KPTV (Portland) 10 p.m. news - 1992-07-16 (partial)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] say,

[0:08] >> uh, I am trying to do what's right for

[0:10] my country. Now, that probably makes me

[0:13] odd in your eyes, but that's what I'm

[0:14] trying to do.

[0:15] >> We didn't get into this mess overnight,

[0:17] and we won't get out of it overnight,

[0:20] but we can do it.

[0:25] Ross Perau pulls the plug on his

[0:27] undeclared run for the White House.

[0:28] >> And Bill Clinton offers a new covenant

[0:30] in his acceptance speech at the

[0:31] Democratic National Convention tonight.

[0:33] Good evening everyone. I'm Gary Hill

[0:35] >> and I'm Kim Singer. Ross Pro simply said

[0:37] no today. The Texas billionaire who

[0:39] seemed poised to announce any moment as

[0:42] an independent candidate dropped

[0:43] completely out of the race for president

[0:45] today, much to the shock and anger of

[0:48] many of his supporters. Perau says he

[0:50] wants to do what's best for America.

[0:52] Tony Clark reports.

[0:55] >> When Ross Perau took his campaign

[0:56] manager's place at a scheduled news

[0:58] conference, it was clear the

[1:00] billionaire's quest for the presidency

[1:02] was over.

[1:03] >> So to all the volunteers, I always look

[1:05] back on this with the fondest of

[1:08] memories and my memories will be focused

[1:10] on you and your greatness because you

[1:13] are America.

[1:14] >> Perau said his decision to drop out was

[1:16] the result of three things. The two

[1:18] major political parties, he said, were

[1:19] now discussing the issues he had raised.

[1:22] The Democratic party appeared to be

[1:24] revitalized and it appeared to Perau

[1:26] that if he stayed in the race, Congress

[1:29] rather than the voters would pick the

[1:30] president.

[1:31] >> People can say anything they want to

[1:33] say. Uh I am trying to do what's right

[1:36] for my country. Now that probably makes

[1:38] me odd in your eyes, but that's what I'm

[1:40] trying to do.

[1:41] >> Yet others suggest that the rough and

[1:43] tumble political world was tougher than

[1:45] Peru expected as a potential

[1:47] presidential candidate. His motives, his

[1:49] business practices, and his previous

[1:51] political activities came under fire. He

[1:54] was criticized for not providing

[1:56] specific solutions to the problems he

[1:58] laid out. There was dissension in the

[2:00] campaign about strategy and tactics, and

[2:02] his address to the NAACP, a group that

[2:05] was not filled with volunteer

[2:06] supporters, fell flat. Bro said he was

[2:10] already spent about $10 million on the

[2:12] campaign. And with the effort going

[2:14] sour, AIDS conceded. He decided to cut

[2:17] his losses.

[2:18] >> What do you do now, Mr. Fro?

[2:19] >> Go to work. Go to work. I got to pay the

[2:21] bills.

[2:22] >> Perau's decision both saddened and

[2:24] surprised volunteers. The phone bank in

[2:26] his Dallas office lit up with calls from

[2:29] supporters urging Perau to stick it out.

[2:31] >> It is a mistake, sir, and we want you to

[2:33] help out.

[2:34] >> For other volunteers, Perau's withdrawal

[2:37] was viewed as a betrayal. We let down

[2:39] the people that were really involved in

[2:40] the grassroots campaign who had no other

[2:42] agenda, no political aspirations,

[2:44] firsttime political people like myself

[2:47] who had never ever been involved in any

[2:49] kind of political process.

[2:50] >> Pero's international affairs adviser

[2:52] Richard Fiser says he was shocked by the

[2:55] decision because he says the process of

[2:57] mapping out strategy was just beginning.

[3:00] My disappointment is we will not have a

[3:03] first rate tough impression impressive

[3:07] vehicle to put those things forward.

[3:08] >> Rose says he doesn't plan to endorse

[3:10] either George Bush or Bill Clinton, nor

[3:13] will he tell his volunteers what to do

[3:15] other than to urge them to keep on the

[3:17] candidates to discuss the issues. Rose

[3:20] says the short-lived campaign was worth

[3:22] it and he wouldn't change anything. Now

[3:24] he says he'll simply go back to being a

[3:27] businessman. Tony Clark, CNN, Dallas.

[3:30] >> Well, it's still unclear though whether

[3:32] Perau's name will appear on the Oregon

[3:34] ballot despite a successful signature

[3:36] drive here. More than 150,000 names were

[3:39] collected in Oregon if they are

[3:40] submitted to the Secretary of State's

[3:42] office and independent party would be

[3:44] formed and that party would have to hold

[3:45] a nominating convention to get parole on

[3:48] the November ballot. However, Perau

[3:50] himself would have to sign an official

[3:51] document pledging his commitment to

[3:53] serve if elected. And since Perau has

[3:56] withdrawn from the race, it's unlikely

[3:57] he would commit himself. But Perau is

[4:00] already qualified for the ballot in

[4:01] Washington, and the Washington State

[4:02] Attorney General's office is expected to

[4:04] issue an opinion on the matter sometime

[4:06] next week.

[4:08] >> Ross Prow's decision to stay out of the

[4:10] race came as a complete surprise to his

[4:12] supporters here in the Northwest as well

[4:14] as all across the country today. Jim

[4:16] Maher has reaction now from campaign

[4:19] headquarters in Oregon.

[4:24] It was only two weeks ago that Ross

[4:26] Perau, looking very much like a

[4:28] presidential candidate, thanked his

[4:29] Northwest volunteers at this rally in

[4:32] Olympia, Washington.

[4:33] >> The only thing that matters to me is

[4:36] what the American people want.

[4:37] >> Today, upon hearing the news that Perau

[4:39] had suddenly pulled out of the race for

[4:41] president, many of those same supporters

[4:44] were angry and disappointed.

[4:45] >> I don't think anything's changed. He

[4:47] wasn't a candidate when we started, so

[4:49] he still isn't a candidate. He never has

[4:51] declared.

[4:52] >> I was hoping to hear that maybe Perau

[4:53] would give support to somebody, but

[4:54] obviously he's not making that choice

[4:56] right now. My hope is that he would

[4:59] support Clinton.

[5:00] >> It was a big shock.

[5:01] >> Richard Kidd is the only paid Perau

[5:03] campaign staffer at the Portland

[5:04] headquarters. He says most campaign

[5:06] workers thought Perau could have won the

[5:08] popular vote in November, but he's

[5:11] satisfied the issue Perau raised are now

[5:13] the things the two major party

[5:15] candidates are talking about.

[5:17] >> They're that way because of all the

[5:18] volunteers that work to put Mr. pro on

[5:20] the ballot. Now, the the challenge for

[5:23] everybody, volunteers, diehard

[5:25] Republicans and Democrats, is to make

[5:27] sure that their two parties do indeed

[5:28] stay responsive, that they do indeed

[5:30] listen to the American people, and that

[5:31] they meet the needs.

[5:32] >> It seemed rational to just go ahead and

[5:34] put him on the ballot and let people

[5:36] vote their conscience.

[5:37] >> Later today, Ted Thomas, the Oregon

[5:39] businessman who started the initiative

[5:41] campaign in Oregon, told supporters that

[5:44] he is not giving up.

[5:45] >> My message to Mr. Perau is if you don't

[5:48] want to run to pres run for president,

[5:50] that is your choice. But you asked us to

[5:53] get in the ring and stay in the ring and

[5:54] we're still here. And as far as we're

[5:57] concerned, you're not off the hook.

[6:01] >> I like it.

[6:02] >> Leftover campaign buttons and t-shirts

[6:04] proved to be very popular today. Even

[6:06] with those voters who say they never

[6:08] intended to vote for the Texas

[6:10] billionaire who claims to be a populist.

[6:12] I personally wasn't going to vote for

[6:14] him, but uh some of the issues that he

[6:17] was bringing up were were needed to be

[6:19] dealt with.

[6:20] >> He has uh let us down in that particular

[6:23] part of the commitment. But I think that

[6:24] the issues that Mr. Perau represents can

[6:27] still be pursued and there are lots of

[6:29] ways that this organization of

[6:31] grassroots people can pursue pursue

[6:34] those issues and put pressure on our

[6:36] elected representatives to do something

[6:38] about it. in downtown Portland. Jim

[6:40] Maher, the 10:00 news.

[6:42] >> Well, as we've said, today's

[6:43] announcement by Rosboro has left his

[6:45] supporters stunned and now looking for a

[6:47] candidate to support. James Moore, who's

[6:50] political science professor at

[6:51] University of Portland, joins us now to

[6:52] discuss the implications of this turn of

[6:54] events. First of all, welcome, sir.

[6:56] >> Thank you.

[6:56] >> Who does this help, Bush or Clinton?

[6:58] >> Well, if you look at who the supporters

[7:00] are of Perau, it primarily helps Bush at

[7:03] this point. However, it may help Clinton

[7:07] because Clinton was the one who got the

[7:08] first shot at trying to get those

[7:11] supporters to come over to his side. The

[7:13] both Gore and Clinton mentioned Perau

[7:16] and Perau supporters specifically in the

[7:18] speeches tonight. They get the first

[7:20] crack.

[7:21] >> Professor Moore, if I had been an avid

[7:23] Perau supporter, someone who had gone to

[7:27] the trenches for him as so many of these

[7:29] people did, I would be furious. You

[7:32] think this is going to dis

[7:34] disenfranchise all these people?

[7:36] >> I think you're exactly right. Uh the

[7:38] people who support Perau tend to be

[7:40] people who do not come out and vote

[7:42] regularly. They're the people that

[7:44] Ronald Reagan was able to to pick up and

[7:46] bring into the political spectrum in

[7:48] 1980 and keep in 1984. These people now

[7:52] don't have a reason to come out and vote

[7:54] in the fall. And they are

[7:56] disenfranchised. A lot of them are very,

[7:58] very, very bitter. I should imagine you

[8:00] mentioned to us that your mother-in-law

[8:02] put a campaign sticker, a bumper sticker

[8:04] on her car for the first time ever for

[8:06] Ross Perau,

[8:07] >> right? She was really there for Perau.

[8:09] She thought he was the right person. Um

[8:13] and she feels very very betrayed at this

[8:15] point.

[8:16] >> So these people stay home then. You

[8:17] think?

[8:17] >> I I think that um a lot of them are

[8:19] going to stay home. They're going to the

[8:21] the Republicans and Democrats are going

[8:22] to be fighting over a reduced pie of of

[8:25] voters out there. What is the danger of

[8:27] this making everyone more cynical than

[8:30] ever about the whole process?

[8:32] >> Well, it was a cynical process from the

[8:35] beginning because here you had a three

[8:36] plus billionaire out there and the wrap

[8:39] on him and especially in the news

[8:41] magazines and and a lot of the talk

[8:43] shows was he just wants to buy the

[8:45] presidency. He himself said, "I want to

[8:47] buy the presidency for the American

[8:49] people." Here you have what looks like a

[8:51] rich man who says, "Well, the game isn't

[8:53] fun anymore. I'm going to go home."

[8:55] Yeah. Well, at this point in the in the

[8:57] polls now that Bill Clinton is far ahead

[8:59] of George Bush, does that make a darn

[9:01] bit of difference?

[9:02] >> It does make a difference, but not as

[9:04] much as as you would if you were

[9:07] Clinton, for instance, hope that it

[9:08] would. Everybody remembers the 17% that

[9:10] Dukakus was ahead coming out of the

[9:12] convention in 1988.

[9:14] >> Every time there's a convention, whoever

[9:15] the convention is aimed at gets a push.

[9:18] Um, gets a big push. Um, the key thing

[9:21] for the Clinton people is whether or not

[9:24] they can take that lead that they know

[9:26] is going to shrink and hit the campaign

[9:28] trail. Now, that's what happened to

[9:30] Dukakus. He did not hit the campaign

[9:32] trail. Bush was able to do that.

[9:34] >> Quickly, is Bush in trouble?

[9:35] >> Bush is in deep trouble. Perau and

[9:37] Buchanan show us that there are a lot of

[9:40] people who are anti-incumbent and think

[9:42] that Bush has done a poor job out there.

[9:44] >> Yeah.

[9:44] >> This may be a question you can't answer,

[9:46] but I guess still remaining tonight is

[9:47] the question, why? Why do you think he

[9:49] did this? Per

[9:50] >> I think that he panicked when he saw the

[9:54] new numbers in the polls. He's dropped

[9:56] basically about 15 20 points in about

[9:58] the last two and a half weeks.

[9:59] >> And as we've seen with Ed Rollins and

[10:02] and Hamilton Jordan, a lot of dissension

[10:04] among his professional adviserss. He

[10:06] apparently was not able to to take their

[10:08] advice. It said, "Don't worry about it."

[10:10] >> Yeah.

[10:10] >> Wait until the summer goes on. Wait

[10:12] until the campaign gets going. He quit

[10:14] without inunciating a single campaign

[10:17] issue. He sure did. He got out clean in

[10:18] that respect.

[10:19] >> He certainly did.

[10:20] >> Professor Jim Moore from the University

[10:21] of Portland, thanks so much uh for

[10:23] joining us on this really momentous

[10:24] night. We'll have more on the pro

[10:26] decision and its impact ahead.

[10:27] >> And we turn to the Democrats and the big

[10:29] night for Bill Clinton and Al Gore in

[10:31] just a moment.

[10:34] >> Well, from my perspective, he never

[10:36] really defined exactly who Ross Perau

[10:38] was and who he would be as president.

[10:40] >> Well, that's too bad. It would have been

[10:41] exciting.

[10:42] >> What do you like about him?

[10:44] um that he's an iconic last and um an

[10:47] independent.

[10:49] >> Subway's new sliced roast chicken breast

[10:52] sandwich. A sandwich fit

[10:53] >> hopes the Perau supporters who are now

[10:55] looking for a candidate. Skip Loer has

[10:57] the details in a story filed just

[10:59] moments ago.

[11:00] >> This convention has given the Clinton

[11:02] campaign a not unexpected boost in the

[11:05] polls. And with Ross Perau no longer a

[11:07] factor, Democrats are hoping it can hang

[11:10] on to the lead.

[11:17] The lyrics fit Bill Clinton's call for a

[11:19] new covenant between government and the

[11:22] people based on what everyone must give

[11:25] to make America work again.

[11:27] >> We can do it. We can do it. We can do

[11:31] it.

[11:32] >> In a personal and often emotional

[11:34] speech, Clinton told the convention and

[11:36] the country about where he came from. I

[11:39] am a product of that middle class and

[11:44] when I am president, you will be

[11:45] forgotten no more.

[11:47] >> And he talked about where he wants the

[11:49] country to go.

[11:51] >> Frankly, I'm fed up with politicians in

[11:54] Washington lecturing the rest of us

[11:56] about family values.

[12:01] Our

[12:06] families have values, but our government

[12:11] doesn't.

[12:14] >> Clinton invited Ross Perau supporters to

[12:16] continue their fight for change as

[12:19] Democrats.

[12:20] >> We have got to go beyond the brain

[12:22] deadad politics in Washington and give

[12:25] our people the kind of government they

[12:27] deserve, a government THAT WORKS FOR

[12:29] THEM.

[12:33] GEORGE BUSH, if you won't use your power

[12:36] to help America, step aside. I will.

[12:40] >> For Clinton and his running mate, Al

[12:42] Gore, this was the culmination of a

[12:45] 4-day effort to showcase them and the

[12:48] need for change.

[12:50] >> We vow here tonight that in November,

[12:54] George Bush and Dan Quail will be

[12:57] history.

[13:02] They have demeaned our democracy

[13:06] with the politics of distraction,

[13:10] denial, and despair.

[13:13] What time is it?

[13:19] >> Clinton and Gore were preaching to the

[13:21] choir here at the Democratic convention.

[13:25] The real question is how will their

[13:27] message resonate among disaffected

[13:29] Democrats and independents over the next

[13:31] three months at Madison Square Garden in

[13:34] New York live. I'm Skip Loer.

[13:37] >> Oregon Congressman Ron Widen was a

[13:39] member of the Oregon delegation to the

[13:41] Democratic National Convention. I talked

[13:43] with him via satellite from New York

[13:44] tonight just before the close of the

[13:46] convention and he said he's pleased with

[13:48] the outcome.

[13:50] Well, I think we come out of this

[13:51] convention unified and we understand

[13:54] that to win in November, we are going to

[13:56] have to mobilize voters all across the

[13:59] political spectrum. That means Democrats

[14:01] are going to have to work together.

[14:02] >> Congressman, I'm really interested in

[14:04] your reaction and opinion to really the

[14:07] biggest headline of the day, Ross

[14:09] Perau's decision not to run.

[14:11] >> Well, it's been an amazing uh political

[14:13] year and today's decision really takes

[14:15] the cake. Now, my own sense is that the

[14:18] Perau supporters are not going to

[14:20] casually transfer their allegiance to

[14:23] someone else. Those are show me voters.

[14:25] They're insisting on dramatic changes in

[14:28] our political system. They want to see

[14:30] us clean up the mess in healthcare,

[14:32] reform our educational system. They know

[14:35] the economy is in serious trouble. And

[14:37] unless uh George Bush, Bill Clinton, and

[14:41] their tickets demonstrate some real

[14:43] practical answers, the parole voters are

[14:45] going to be hard to win over.

[14:47] >> Well, Widen says he's confident that the

[14:49] Clinton Gore ticket will address the

[14:51] breadandbut issues that the Northwest

[14:53] cares about, things like health care and

[14:55] unemployment. He also says that the

[14:57] Democrats effort to win over Perau

[14:58] supporters began tonight in speeches

[15:00] given by both Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

[15:03] He says that Gore pointedly asked Perau

[15:05] supporters to stay involved this

[15:06] election year. He told him they've

[15:08] already made a difference and now of

[15:09] course the Democrats hope they'll get

[15:11] involved in the Democratic campaign.

[15:13] >> Politics of a different sort now.

[15:15] Portland today began enforcing its new

[15:16] water conservation regulations.

[15:18] Violators can be fined up to $500 for

[15:21] penalties approved yesterday by the

[15:23] Portland City Council. But as Florence

[15:25] John reports tonight, most people were

[15:27] complying as the water cops hit the

[15:29] streets today.

[15:32] Okay.

[15:34] >> Mark Gley usually repairs meters for the

[15:37] Portland Water Bureau, but now he's a

[15:39] water watcher. One of six Water Bureau

[15:42] employees charged with cruising the

[15:44] streets looking for water wasters.

[15:47] >> What I basically looking for is like I

[15:49] say, water running down a curb somewhere

[15:51] or down a sidewalk or wet something wet

[15:53] maybe.

[15:55] >> Gley's first morning on the job takes

[15:57] him through Portland's West Hill. He

[15:59] sees no reason to write any citations.

[16:02] >> One guy was pouring new concrete and

[16:05] cleaning his equipment is the only water

[16:07] usage that I've seen so far at all.

[16:11] Hopefully, this is exactly how it'll go

[16:14] day after day. It wouldn't bother me in

[16:16] the slightest.

[16:17] >> He takes note of healthy green lawns. In

[16:20] the future, these could be red flags for

[16:22] people violating the ban on lawn

[16:25] watering. It'll probably take 2 to 3

[16:27] weeks for anybody's real nice green lawn

[16:30] to start turning brown and then we're

[16:33] going to start looking for uh midnight

[16:36] waterers.

[16:36] >> Portland Water Bureau spokesman Ross

[16:38] Walker says these water watchers today

[16:41] issued 10 warnings. If the same people

[16:44] are caught again, future violations will

[16:46] cost them 100, 300, and $500. The ones

[16:51] that we will probably get are the ones

[16:53] where the neighbors turn the people in.

[16:55] >> Seattle has had similar water penalties

[16:57] in effect for two months. They have

[17:00] issued only four $100 fines, all to

[17:03] businesses in southwest Portland.

[17:06] Florence John, the 10:00 news.

[17:09] >> Now we'll see which neighbors really

[17:11] like their neighbors, huh? We are still

[17:13] not doing as well as we should or as

[17:14] well as the city would like in cutting

[17:16] back water use. In fact, the hotter it

[17:18] gets, the more we're using. Water

[17:20] consumption yesterday reached almost 120

[17:22] million gallons. And our target,

[17:24] remember, is just 100 million gallons a

[17:27] day. This means very simply, we were

[17:28] almost 20 million gallons over.

[17:31] >> Nice duds, Dave.

[17:33] >> Well, there's one way to save water, and

[17:34] that's to be prepared for the weather.

[17:36] And I'm going to be prepared for

[17:37] tomorrow. I'm ready because if you think

[17:38] it was hot today, it's going to be hot

[17:40] tomorrow. You're not going to notice the

[17:41] difference. Another hot one coming our

[17:43] way. And boy, just be prepared for it.

[17:45] So, don't drink too much water. just got

[17:46] to be sparing like

[17:47] >> but he has seen the damage the rodents

[17:49] leave behind. He works on storm drain

[17:51] maintenance for the city of Beaverton.

[17:53] >> You can see how it's killed the trees

[17:56] out behind here. This piece here has

[17:59] been chewed by the beaver. Um even this

[18:02] one right here, you can see they they

[18:03] chew it off. Looks pretty straight, but

[18:05] it's uh

[18:07] that's done by a beaver.

[18:09] >> Beaver dams also cause floods and

[18:11] destroy property.

[18:12] >> If he builds high enough, he may use

[18:13] that water line, and that's becomes a

[18:15] problem for us. Again, we can't have

[18:16] that pressure against that water line

[18:18] could pop it out.

[18:19] >> Beavers are crafty, stubborn little

[18:21] critters. They usually work at night and

[18:23] they work very fast. At one time, this

[18:25] dam was about 4 ft high. This is also

[18:27] the fourth time that beavers rebuilt

[18:29] this dam. Stone unplugged this dam with

[18:31] a diversion tube. It diverts water flow

[18:34] and prevents flooding.

[18:36] These days, controlling the dams has

[18:38] become a headache for public works

[18:39] crews. The beaver population is on the

[18:42] rise.

[18:42] >> Two years ago, I knew of about five

[18:44] dams. Now I've got about 20 that I know

[18:46] of. And I've seen a lot in the last

[18:48] year. A lot more dams have been built in

[18:51] the last year. I'd say a good 10.

[18:52] >> But Stone is philosophical about the

[18:54] beaver. He respects the animal and says

[18:56] they help rid creeks of debris.

[18:58] >> They're a very smart animal and they're

[19:00] we can't seem to outwit them. They're uh

[19:02] they've got us. They we've tried

[19:04] different ways to work around them and

[19:05] they seem to figure out a way to get

[19:06] back at us.

[19:07] >> For now, it looks like the beaver is

[19:09] winning the battle against nature in

[19:11] Beaverton. Rosie Fio, the 10:00 news.

[19:15] >> Well, let's go to Michael O'Brien now

[19:17] for a sport of another kind. Huh?

[19:19] >> Which one you want to start with?

[19:20] >> Well, how about that?

[19:21] >> Good choice. Yeah, they made it look

[19:22] real easy out there at the British.

[19:24] >> Measured at individual meters. It's that

[19:27] serious. I'm Rick Myers. If you would

[19:30] like to respond to this editorial, write

[19:33] feedback KATU, Post Office Box 2,

[19:36] Portland, Oregon 97207.