CBS Evening News open - 1993-04-06

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] This is more gridlock, and I think the

[0:02] people will rebel against it.

[0:04] President lashes out at his political

[0:06] enemies for trying to kill his job

[0:08] stimulus package.

[0:10] In Florida, the murder of a German

[0:12] tourist, a growing image problem, and

[0:14] efforts by leaders to come up with a

[0:16] practical protection plan.

[0:19] An eye on America. Tonight, a struggle

[0:21] between hope and fear. What Southern

[0:24] California is doing to avoid a replay of

[0:26] civil unrest.

[0:27] >> Okay, no more burning the buildings, no

[0:29] more problems. Uh-huh.

[0:30] Keep it good in the hood.

[0:34] This is the CBS Evening News.

[0:41] Good evening. I'm Connie Chung sitting

[0:43] in for Dan Rather.

[0:45] President Clinton still has a tough job

[0:46] getting his job creation plan out of

[0:48] gridlock in the Senate. Mr. Clinton says

[0:51] the $16 billion program is crucial to

[0:53] boosting the economy. So, today, he came

[0:55] out swinging. A big stick in one hand, a

[0:58] very small carrot in the other. White

[1:00] House correspondent Bill Plante is on

[1:02] the Clinton watch.

[1:05] President Clinton backed down just an

[1:07] inch or so today in his face-off with

[1:09] Senate Republicans and said he'd be

[1:11] willing to make a few changes in his

[1:13] jobs-producing stimulus package.

[1:15] >> I'm going to work on a proposal that I

[1:16] think will address the

[1:19] some of the legitimate expressed

[1:20] objections.

[1:22] And we will see when the Congress comes

[1:24] back

[1:25] whether the Republicans um

[1:28] are committed to putting the American

[1:29] people back to work or just playing

[1:30] politics. Except for that one gesture,

[1:33] Mr. Clinton continued his attack on

[1:34] Senate Republicans who have delayed a

[1:36] vote on the package. He accused them of

[1:38] creating gridlock and predicted that the

[1:40] public would rebel.

[1:41] >> and if they want to stop the government,

[1:43] they can do it. But I hope I don't think

[1:46] that it's going to be very defensible

[1:48] when they come back to uh to say the

[1:51] economy's fine in America, there are

[1:52] enough jobs, we don't have to do this.

[1:54] Republican senators back home say this

[1:56] isn't a jobs bill. It's a bill full of

[1:58] wasteful pork barrel spending. Spending

[2:01] uh by the federal government has never

[2:02] created jobs and never will. So, I think

[2:04] what they need to do is recognize, if

[2:06] you really want to get America's economy

[2:08] moving again, give an incentive to the

[2:10] private sector to create jobs, not look

[2:12] to government. Senators took off for

[2:14] their spring recess late last night,

[2:16] putting off a vote on the bill for at

[2:17] least another 2 weeks. At an

[2:19] unemployment office in Fairfax,

[2:21] Virginia, they don't understand why

[2:23] politics is getting in the way of

[2:24] helping people find work. It seems

[2:27] obvious that they should be working

[2:28] together, and it confuses me, and I'm

[2:30] sure everybody else, you know,

[2:32] uh when they see these guys,

[2:34] you know, uh in the middle of these

[2:36] petty fights. Mr. Clinton seems willing

[2:38] to make a deal, but not much of one.

[2:40] Best bet, Democrats will drop some

[2:42] spending for public works projects that

[2:44] are easy to ridicule, swimming pools and

[2:46] the like. And Mr. Clinton will play

[2:48] hardball with Senate Republicans, taking

[2:51] his case over their heads directly to

[2:53] the voters in their states.

[2:55] Bill Plante, CBS News, the White House.

[2:58] The prosecution was able to get its

[3:00] message directly to the jury today in

[3:02] the case against four police officers

[3:04] accused of violating Rodney King's civil

[3:06] rights. It is videotaped evidence the

[3:09] defense did not want the jury to see.

[3:12] Correspondent Bill Whitaker is covering

[3:13] the trial at the federal courthouse in

[3:15] Los Angeles.

[3:17] After days of heated legal wrangling,

[3:20] the federal jury finally today got to

[3:22] see the controversial and potentially

[3:24] damaging videotaped testimony of

[3:27] defendant Theodore Briseño from the

[3:29] first trial in Simi Valley.

[3:31] >> And I thought officer Powell officer

[3:32] Powell was out of control then. A year

[3:34] ago, officer Briseño turned on his

[3:36] co-defendants and gave scathing

[3:38] testimony that officer Laurence Powell

[3:41] did use excessive force, did beat Rodney

[3:43] King in the head, and that King was not

[3:46] a threat. I saw Powell on him like this,

[3:49] and then

[3:51] hitting

[3:52] Mr.

[3:53] King on the right side of his face. The

[3:55] taped testimony is a jolt to the defense

[3:58] in this trial. Unlike Simi Valley,

[4:00] Briseño has closed ranks with the other

[4:02] officers in a united defense. Only

[4:05] Sergeant Stacey Koon, the officer in

[4:07] charge that night, has taken the stand.

[4:09] >> That this was a managed and controlled

[4:12] use of force, it follows the LAPD

[4:14] policy, procedures, and training, and I

[4:16] have stated that from day one.

[4:20] But Briseño's year-old testimony sharply

[4:23] refutes Koon on what happened that night

[4:25] and threatens defense unity.