CBS News - Presidential Debate - 2004-10-13 - 1 of 5 (partial)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Check out Toyota's full line of SUVs,

[0:03] including the refined Highlander, rugged

[0:05] 4Runner, and Seoia, the V8 that seats 8.

[0:09] Now get $1,000 cash back on all 04

[0:12] Highlander, 4Erunner, and Seoia models.

[0:14] That's $1,000 cash back on all 04

[0:17] Highlander, 4Runner, and Sequoia models.

[0:20] For women's health, it's now an

[0:22] emergency. Our hospitals closing

[0:24] maternity wards, OBGYNS forced out,

[0:28] threemonth waits for mammograms. The

[0:30] reason, frivolous lawsuits from outofc

[0:33] control personal injury trial lawyers

[0:35] and John Kerry and the liberals in

[0:37] Congress stand with those trial lawyers.

[0:40] They've voted to block medical lawsuit

[0:41] reform 10 times. And that's why our good

[0:44] doctors are leaving.

[0:46] >> I'm George W. Bush and I approve this

[0:49] message. The dramatic rescue after a car

[0:51] plunges hundreds of feet over a cliff at

[0:53] 11. Queens and center of the universe

[0:56] next Wednesday, followed by a new CSI

[0:58] New York. Now, stay tuned for the

[1:01] presidential debate.

[1:15] Campaign04,

[1:17] a presidential debate. From CBS News

[1:21] headquarters in New York, here is Dan

[1:24] Rather. Good evening. In just 20 days,

[1:27] one of them will be elected president of

[1:29] the United States. Republican George W.

[1:31] Bush or Democrat John Kerry. In just a

[1:34] minute, they will hold their third and

[1:36] final television faceoff of this

[1:38] campaign. this time in Arizona and it's

[1:41] back to the original format. After their

[1:43] town meeting style showdown last Friday,

[1:46] they'll be standing behind lectins again

[1:48] as they did in round one. The questions

[1:50] tonight are supposed to focus on

[1:52] domestic issues and they'll be asked by

[1:54] the moderator, my CBS News colleague Bob

[1:57] Schiffer. Now, going into this final

[1:59] faceoff, our latest CBS News poll

[2:01] indicates President Bush leads Senator

[2:03] Kerry nationally by three points. That's

[2:05] within the margin of error. So, it's

[2:07] deemed a virtual tie. As the Q&A goes on

[2:09] tonight, CBS News will monitor

[2:11] electronically the reaction of a panel

[2:13] of uncommitted voters at the end of the

[2:15] evening. We'll give you the results.

[2:17] Right now in Arizona, Bob Schiffer.

[2:25] Good evening from Arizona State

[2:26] University in Tempe, Arizona. I'm Bob

[2:29] Schiffer of CBS News. I want to welcome

[2:31] you to the third and last of the 2004

[2:34] debates between President George Bush

[2:37] and Senator John Kerry. As Jim Lera told

[2:40] you before the first one, these debates

[2:42] are sponsored by the Commission on

[2:44] Presidential Debates. Tonight, the topic

[2:47] will be domestic affairs, but the format

[2:50] will be the same as that first debate.

[2:52] I'll moderate our discussion under

[2:54] detailed rules agreed to by the

[2:57] candidates, but the questions and the

[2:59] areas to be covered were chosen by me. I

[3:02] have not told the candidates or anyone

[3:04] else what they are. To refresh your

[3:06] memory on the rules, I will ask a

[3:08] question. The candidate is allowed two

[3:10] minutes to answer. His opponent then has

[3:13] a minute and a half to offer a rebuttal.

[3:16] At my discretion, I can extend the

[3:18] discussion by offering each candidate an

[3:20] additional 30 seconds. A green light

[3:23] will come on to signal the candidate has

[3:25] 30 seconds left. A yellow light signals

[3:29] 15 seconds left. A red light means 5

[3:32] seconds left. There is also a buzzer if

[3:35] it is needed. The candidates may not

[3:37] question each other directly. There are

[3:40] no opening statements. There will but

[3:42] there will be twominute closing

[3:44] statements. There is an audience here

[3:46] tonight, but they have agreed to remain

[3:48] silent except for right now when they

[3:51] join me in welcoming President George

[3:53] Bush and Senator John Kerry.

[4:30] Gentlemen, welcome to you both by Coen

[4:33] toss. The first question goes to Senator

[4:35] Kerry. Senator, I want to set the stage

[4:38] for this discussion by asking the

[4:40] question that I think hangs over all of

[4:43] our politics today and is probably on

[4:45] the minds of many people watching this

[4:47] debate tonight. And that is, will our

[4:50] children and grandchildren ever live in

[4:52] a world as safe and secure as the world

[4:55] in which we grew up?

[4:58] Well, first of all, Bob, thank you for

[5:01] uh moderating tonight. Thank you Arizona

[5:03] State for welcoming us and thank you to

[5:06] the presidential commission for

[5:08] undertaking this enormous task. We're

[5:10] proud to be here. Mr. President, I'm

[5:12] glad to be here with you again to share

[5:15] similarities and differences with the

[5:17] American people. Will we ever be safe

[5:19] and secure again? Yes, we absolutely

[5:22] must be. That's the goal. Now, how do we

[5:26] achieve it is the most critical

[5:28] component of it. I believe that this

[5:30] president regrettably

[5:32] uh rushed us into a war, made decisions

[5:35] about foreign policy, pushed alliances

[5:38] away. Uh and as a result, America is now

[5:42] bearing this extraordinary burden where

[5:45] we are not as safe as we ought to be.

[5:47] The measurement is not are we safer. The

[5:50] measurement is are we as safe as we

[5:52] ought to be. And there are a host of

[5:54] options that this president had

[5:56] available to him like uh making sure

[5:58] that at all our ports in America

[6:00] containers are inspected. Only 95% of

[6:03] them uh 95% come in today uninspected.

[6:06] That's not good enough. People who fly

[6:08] on airplanes today. The cargo hold is

[6:11] not x-rayed, but the baggage is. That's

[6:14] not good enough. Firehouses don't have

[6:16] enough firefighters in them. Police

[6:18] officers are being cut from the streets

[6:20] of America because the president decided

[6:22] to cut the cops program. So, we can do a

[6:24] better job of homeland security. I can

[6:27] do a better job of waging a smarter,

[6:29] more effective war on terror and

[6:31] guarantee that we go after the

[6:32] terrorists. I will hunt them down and

[6:34] we'll kill them. We'll capture them.

[6:35] We'll do what'sever necessary to be

[6:37] safe. But I pledge this to you, America.

[6:39] I will do it in the way that Franklin

[6:41] Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan and John

[6:42] Kennedy and others did, where we build

[6:45] the strongest alliances, where the world

[6:47] joins together, where we have the best

[6:49] intelligence, and where we are able

[6:51] ultimately to be more safe and secure.

[6:53] >> Mr. President, you have 90 seconds.

[6:55] >> Bob, thank you very much. I want to

[6:56] thank Arizona State as well. Uh, yes, we

[6:58] can be safe and secure if we stay on the

[7:02] offense against the terrorists and if we

[7:05] spread freedom and liberty around the

[7:06] world.

[7:08] Uh, I have got a comprehensive strategy

[7:11] to not only chase down al-Qaeda wherever

[7:13] it exists and we're making progress.

[7:15] Threequarters of al-Qaeda leaders have

[7:17] been brought to justice, but to make

[7:19] sure that countries who harbor

[7:20] terrorists

[7:22] are held to account.

[7:24] And as a result of securing ourselves

[7:26] and ridding the Taliban out of

[7:28] Afghanistan, the Afghan people had

[7:30] elections this weekend. And the first

[7:33] voter was a 19year-old

[7:36] woman. Think about that. Freedom is on

[7:38] the march. We held to account a

[7:41] terrorist regime in Saddam Hussein. In

[7:44] other words, in order to make sure we're

[7:45] secure, there must be a comprehensive

[7:47] plan. My opponent just this weekend

[7:50] talked about how terrorism could be

[7:53] reduced to a nuisance, comparing it to

[7:56] prostitution, illegal gambling. I think

[7:58] that attitude and that point of view is

[7:59] dangerous.

[8:01] I don't think you can secure America for

[8:03] the long run if you don't have a

[8:05] comprehensive view as to how to feed

[8:07] these people. At home, we'll do

[8:08] everything we can to protect the

[8:09] homeland. I signed the Homeland Security

[8:11] Bill to better align our assets and

[8:14] resources. My opponent voted against it.

[8:16] We're doing everything we can to protect

[8:17] our borders and ports, but absolutely we

[8:20] can be secure in the long run. It just

[8:22] takes good, strong leadership.

[8:23] >> Anything to add, Senator Kerry?

[8:25] >> Yes. When the president had an

[8:27] opportunity to capture or kill Osama bin

[8:29] Laden, he took his focus off of him,

[8:32] outsourced the job to Afghan warlords,

[8:35] and Osama bin Laden escaped. 6 months

[8:38] after he said Osama bin Laden must be

[8:40] caught dead or alive. This president was

[8:42] asked, "Where is Osama bin Laden?" He

[8:44] said, "I don't know. I don't really

[8:46] think about him very much. I'm not that

[8:48] concerned. We need a president who stays

[8:50] deadly focused on the real war on

[8:52] terror." Mr. president.

[8:54] >> Uh gosh, I I don't think I ever said I'm

[8:57] not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's

[8:58] kind of one of those uh exaggerations.

[9:02] Of course, we're worried about Osama bin

[9:03] Laden. We're on the hunt after Osama bin

[9:05] Laden. We're using every asset at our

[9:07] disposal to get Osama bin Laden. My

[9:09] opponent said, "This war is a matter of

[9:11] intelligence and and law enforcement."

[9:13] No, this is a war is a matter of using

[9:15] every asset our at our disposal

[9:19] to keep the American people protected.

[9:21] >> New question, Mr. President um to you uh

[9:25] we're talking about protecting ourselves

[9:27] uh from the unexpected, but the flu

[9:29] season is suddenly upon us. Flu kills

[9:32] thousands of people every year.

[9:34] Suddenly, we find ourselves with a

[9:36] severe shortage of flu vaccine. How did

[9:38] that happen?

[9:40] >> Um Bob,

[9:43] we were reliant upon a company out of

[9:45] England to provide about half of the flu

[9:48] vaccines for the United States citizen.

[9:50] And it turned out that the vaccine they

[9:53] were producing

[9:55] was contaminated.

[9:57] And so we took the right action and

[9:59] didn't allow contaminated medicine into

[10:02] our country.

[10:04] We're working with Canada to hopefully

[10:06] that they'll produce a help us realize

[10:09] the vaccine necessary to make sure our

[10:13] citizens have got flu vaccinations

[10:15] during this upcoming season. My call to

[10:17] our fellow Americans

[10:19] is if you're healthy, if you're younger,

[10:23] don't get a flu shot this year.

[10:26] Help us prioritize those who need to get

[10:28] the flu shot, the elderly and the young.

[10:32] The uh CDC, responsible for health in

[10:35] the United States, is setting those

[10:36] priorities and is allocating the flu

[10:39] vaccine accordingly.

[10:41] I haven't gotten a flu shot and I don't

[10:43] intend to because I want to make sure

[10:46] that those who are most vulnerable get

[10:49] treated. Uh we have a problem with

[10:52] litigation in the United States of

[10:54] America.

[10:56] Vaccine manufacturers are worried about

[10:58] getting sued and so therefore they uh

[11:02] have backed off from providing this kind

[11:04] of vaccine.

[11:06] One of the reasons I'm such a strong

[11:08] believer in legal reform is so that uh

[11:12] people uh aren't afraid of producing a

[11:14] product that is necessary for the health

[11:17] of our citizens and then end up getting

[11:20] sued in a court of law. But uh the best

[11:23] thing we can do now Bob given the

[11:24] circumstances with the company in

[11:26] England is for those of us who are

[11:29] younger and healthy don't get a flu

[11:31] shot. Senator Kerry,

[11:35] >> this really uh underscores the problem

[11:38] with the American health care system.

[11:40] It's not working for the American family

[11:42] and it's gotten worse under President

[11:45] Bush over the course of the last years.

[11:47] 5 million Americans have lost their

[11:49] health insurance in this country.

[11:53] You got about a million right here in

[11:55] Arizona, just shy 950,000 who have no

[11:58] health insurance at all. 82,000

[12:01] Arizonans lost their health insurance

[12:03] under President Bush's watch. 223,000

[12:07] kids in Arizona have no health insurance

[12:09] at all. All across our country, go to

[12:12] Ohio. 1.4 million Ohioans have no health

[12:15] insurance. 114,000 of them lost it under

[12:19] President Bush. Wisconsin, 82,000

[12:22] Wisconsinites lost it under President

[12:24] Bush. This president has turned his back

[12:28] on the wellness of America and there is

[12:31] no system. In fact, it's starting to

[12:33] fall apart. Not because of lawsuits,

[12:36] though they are a problem and John

[12:37] Edwards and I are committed to fixing

[12:39] them, but because of the larger issue

[12:41] that we don't cover Americans. Children

[12:45] across our country don't have

[12:46] healthcare. We're the richest country on

[12:49] the face of the planet, the only

[12:50] industrialized nation in the world not

[12:52] to do it. I have a plan to cover all

[12:55] Americans. We're going to make it

[12:56] affordable and accessible. We're going

[12:57] to let everybody buy into the same

[12:59] health care plan senators and

[13:01] congressmen give themselves.

[13:02] >> Mr. President, would you like to add

[13:04] something?

[13:04] >> I would. Thank you. Um, I want to remind

[13:07] people listening tonight that a plan is

[13:10] not a litany of complaints

[13:13] and a plan is not to lay out programs

[13:15] that you can't pay for. He just said he

[13:18] wants everybody to be able to buy into

[13:19] the same plan that senators and

[13:21] congressmen get. That cost the

[13:23] government $7,700 per family. If every

[13:26] family in America signed up, like the

[13:28] senator suggested, would cost us $5

[13:30] trillion over 10 years. It's an empty

[13:33] promise. It's called bait and switch.

[13:36] Time's up.

[13:36] >> Thank you. Actually, it's not an empty

[13:39] promise. It's really interesting because

[13:41] the president used that very plan as a

[13:44] reason for for seniors to accept his

[13:48] prescription drug plan. He said, 'If

[13:50] it's good enough for for the congressmen

[13:52] and senators to have choice, seniors

[13:54] ought to have choice. What we do is we

[13:56] have choice. I choose Blue Cross Blue

[13:58] Shield. Other senators, other

[14:00] congressmen choose other programs. But

[14:01] the fact is, we're going to help

[14:03] Americans be able to buy into it. Those

[14:05] that can afford it are going to buy in

[14:06] themselves. We're not giving this away

[14:07] for nothing. All right, Senator Kerry, a

[14:11] new question. Uh let's talk about

[14:13] economic security. You pledged during

[14:16] the last debate that you would not raise

[14:18] taxes on those making less than $200,000

[14:21] a year, but the price of everything is

[14:24] going up and we all know it. Healthc

[14:25] care cost, as you all are talking about,

[14:27] is skyrocketing. The cost of the war. My

[14:30] question is, how can you or any

[14:32] president, whoever is elected next time,

[14:35] keep that pledge without running this

[14:37] country deeper into debt and passing on

[14:40] more of the bills that we're running up

[14:43] to our children? I'll tell you exactly

[14:45] how I can do it. By reinstating what

[14:48] President Bush took away, which is

[14:51] called pay as you go. During the 1990s,

[14:55] we had pay as you go rules. If you were

[14:57] going to pass something in the Congress,

[14:58] you had to show where you were going to

[15:00] pay for it and how. President Bush has

[15:03] taken he's the only president in history

[15:05] to do this. He's also the only president

[15:08] since in in 72 years to lose jobs. 1.6 6

[15:12] million jobs lost. He's the only

[15:14] president to have incomes of families go

[15:17] down for the last three years. The only

[15:19] president to see exports go down. The

[15:21] only president to see the lowest level

[15:23] of business investment in our country as

[15:24] it is today. Now, I'm going to reverse

[15:26] that. I'm going to change that. We're

[15:29] going to restore the fiscal discipline

[15:31] we had in the 1990s.

[15:33] Every plan that I have laid out, my

[15:35] health care plan, my plan for education,

[15:37] my plan for kids to be able to get

[15:39] better college loans, I've shown exactly

[15:42] how I'm going to pay for those. And we

[15:44] start, we don't do it exclusively, but

[15:46] we start by rolling back George Bush's

[15:49] unaffordable tax cut for the wealthiest

[15:51] people, people earning more than

[15:52] $200,000 a year. And we pass hopefully

[15:56] the McCain Carry Commission, which

[15:58] identified some $60 billion that we can

[16:00] get. We we shut the loophole which has

[16:04] American workers actually subsidizing

[16:07] the loss of their own job. They just

[16:09] passed an expansion of that loophole in

[16:11] the last few days. 43 billion of

[16:13] giveaways, including favors to the oil

[16:15] and gas industry and to people importing

[16:18] ceiling fans from China. I'm going to

[16:20] stand up and fight for the American

[16:22] worker. And I'm going to do it in a way

[16:24] that's fiscally sound. I show how I pay

[16:26] for the healthcare, how we pay for the

[16:28] education. I have a manufacturing jobs

[16:30] credit. We pay for it by shutting that

[16:33] loophole overseas. We raise the student

[16:35] loans. I pay for it by changing the

[16:37] relationship with the banks. This

[16:39] president has never once vetoed one

[16:41] bill, first president in a 100 years not

[16:44] to do that.

[16:44] >> Mr. President,

[16:46] >> well, his rhetoric doesn't match his

[16:47] record.

[16:49] He'd been a senator for 20 years. He

[16:52] voted to increase taxes 98 times.

[16:56] when they tried to reduce taxes, he

[16:58] voted against that 127 times. He talks

[17:02] about being a fiscal conservative or

[17:04] fiscally sound, but he voted over he

[17:07] voted 277 times to wave the budget caps,

[17:12] which would have cost the would have

[17:13] cost the taxpayers $4.2 trillion.

[17:18] He talks about PGO. I tell you what PGO

[17:20] means. When you're a senator from

[17:23] Massachusetts,

[17:24] when you're a colleague of Ted Kennedy,

[17:26] payo means you pay and he goes ahead and

[17:30] spends.

[17:32] He's proposed $2.2 trillion of new

[17:35] spending. And yet the so-called tax on

[17:37] the rich, which is also a tax on many

[17:40] small business owners in America, raises

[17:43] 600 million by our account, billion, 800

[17:46] billion by his account. There is a tax

[17:48] gap. And guess who usually ends up

[17:51] filling the tax gap? The middle class.

[17:55] I proposed a detailed budget, Bob. I

[17:58] sent up my budget man to the Congress.

[18:00] And he says, "Here's how we're going to

[18:03] reduce the deficit in half by 5 years.

[18:05] It requires progrowth policies that grow

[18:07] our economy and fiscal sanity in the

[18:10] halls of Congress."

[18:13] >> Let's uh go to a new question, Mr.

[18:15] President. Two minutes and let's

[18:17] continue on jobs. You know, there are

[18:19] all kind of statistics out there, but I

[18:21] want to bring it down to an individual.

[18:24] Mr. President, what do you say to

[18:26] someone in this country who has lost his

[18:29] job to someone overseas who's being paid

[18:33] a fraction of what that job paid here in

[18:36] the United States? I say, Bob, I've got

[18:38] policies to continue to grow our economy

[18:42] and create the jobs of the 21st century,

[18:45] and here's some help for you to go get

[18:46] an education. Here's some help for you

[18:49] to go to a community college. We've

[18:51] expanded trade adjustment assistance. We

[18:53] want to help pay for you to gain the

[18:56] skills necessary to fill the jobs of the

[18:58] 21st century. You know, there's a lot of

[19:00] talk about how to keep the economy

[19:02] growing. We talk about fiscal matters,

[19:04] but perhaps the best way to keep jobs

[19:07] here in America and to keep this economy

[19:08] growing is to make sure our education

[19:10] system works. I went to Washington to

[19:14] solve problems and I saw a problem in

[19:16] the public education system in in

[19:19] America. They were just shuffling too

[19:20] many kids through the system year after

[19:22] year, grade after grade without learning

[19:24] the basics. And so we said, let's raise

[19:26] the standards. We're spending more

[19:28] money, but let's raise the standards and

[19:30] measure early and solve problems now

[19:32] before it's too late. No, education is

[19:35] how to help the person who's lost a job.

[19:38] Education is how to make sure this uh uh

[19:40] we've got a workforce that's productive

[19:42] and competitive.

[19:44] You got four more years. I've got more

[19:46] to do. To continue to raise standards,

[19:49] to continue to reward teachers in school

[19:51] districts that are working, to emphasize

[19:54] math and science in the classrooms, to

[19:56] continue to expand PEL grants, to make

[19:59] sure that uh people have an opportunity

[20:01] to start their career with a college

[20:04] diploma. And so to the person you talk

[20:06] to, I say, "Here's some help. Here's

[20:08] some trade adjustment assistance money

[20:11] for you to go to a community college in

[20:12] your neighborhood, a community college

[20:14] which is providing the skills necessary

[20:16] to fill the jobs of the 21st century."

[20:19] And that's that what we'd say to that

[20:21] person.

[20:21] >> Senator Kerry,

[20:24] >> uh,

[20:26] I want you to notice how the president

[20:28] switched away from jobs and started

[20:30] talking about education principally. Uh

[20:33] let me come back in one moment to that.

[20:34] But I want to speak for a second if I

[20:36] can to what the president said about

[20:37] fiscal responsibility. Being lectured by

[20:39] the president uh uh on fiscal

[20:42] responsibility is a little bit like Tony

[20:44] Soprano talking to me about law and

[20:46] order in this country. Uh this president

[20:49] has taken a $5.6 trillion surplus and

[20:53] turned it into deficits. As far as the

[20:54] eye can see, health care costs for the

[20:57] average American have gone up 64%.