KPTV (Portland) 10 p.m. news - 1992-12-10 (partial)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] music of Harry Kik Jr.

[0:01] >> Political analyst Len Bergstein will

[0:03] join us to discuss the day's events and

[0:05] try to put in perspective what it all

[0:07] means. And still ahead in this NewsHour,

[0:09] we will bring you Senator Pacwood's news

[0:11] conference in its entirety for those of

[0:13] you who may have missed it today. But

[0:15] first, the reaction. Senator Pacwood's

[0:17] public appearance was eagerly awaited by

[0:19] Oregonians as well as the rest of the

[0:21] nation. Here in Portland, both

[0:23] supporters and opponents gathered to

[0:25] watch the news conference. Rosie Fialo

[0:27] reports now on reactions to the

[0:29] senator's apologies.

[0:31] >> I plan to remain in the Senate.

[0:33] >> Members of Oregonians for ethical

[0:35] representation listened to Senator Bob

[0:37] Pacwood with little expression on their

[0:39] faces, but afterwards this bipartisan

[0:41] group showed plenty of emotion.

[0:43] >> He's lied to Oregonians for 20 years and

[0:45] now he thinks he can dismiss it with an

[0:47] apology.

[0:48] >> I'm not going to get into the specifics

[0:50] of each and every charge.

[0:51] >> Opponents want the senator to resign.

[0:53] They accuse him of continuing to dodge

[0:55] questions about the sexual harassment

[0:57] allegations made against him. They also

[0:59] accuse Pacwood and his staff of

[1:01] attempting to discredit alleged victims.

[1:03] >> And it wasn't just sexual harassment, as

[1:05] bad as that is, but physical sexual

[1:07] aggression. It wasn't 20 years ago, but

[1:10] as recently as 1992.

[1:12] >> He said that his behavior was wrong.

[1:14] Well, in fact, in many instances, there

[1:16] are serious questions about whether his

[1:18] behavior was criminal.

[1:21] The mood was more upbeat at the Heathman

[1:23] Hotel where Pacwood supporters gathered.

[1:25] This group accused the media of

[1:27] conducting a modern-day witch hunt and

[1:28] defended Pacwood's record.

[1:30] >> I'm really proud of him. I think he's

[1:32] addressed this issue headon. Uh I think

[1:35] he has addressed it correctly. I think

[1:36] this is going to be a new day for this

[1:38] problem and bring it to the attention of

[1:40] people.

[1:40] >> I am prepared to cooperate fully with

[1:42] the Senate Ethics Committee.

[1:43] >> These Pacwood supporters say the

[1:45] controversy hasn't hurt the senator's

[1:46] credibility and that he should remain in

[1:48] office. From our viewpoint, Senator

[1:50] Pacwood is not guilty of anything. He

[1:53] has admitted indiscretions. They are not

[1:55] sexual harassment. They are improper

[1:57] behavior.

[1:58] >> The people of Oregon should give him a

[2:00] chance. He has stated that he is sorry.

[2:03] I don't know what else they would expect

[2:05] from him.

[2:06] >> What we can expect is the issue to

[2:08] remain in the forefront for some time. A

[2:10] Senate Ethics Committee investigation is

[2:12] expected to begin sometime in January.

[2:15] Rosie Fialo, the 10:00 news.

[2:18] Victims of Senator Pacwood's alleged

[2:20] sexual misconduct are not satisfied with

[2:22] what they heard this morning. The

[2:24] apology and news conference did not

[2:26] answer the questions nor the complaints

[2:28] of former Pacwood staff member Julie

[2:30] Williamson, lobbyist Mary Hefernan, or

[2:33] model Tiffany Work. Jim Hyde surveys

[2:35] their reaction to the senator's first

[2:37] public appearance since the charges were

[2:39] made.

[2:41] >> It's not enough to know that he's

[2:43] sincere. Not yet. And I think it has to

[2:46] come from um additional behaviors.

[2:50] >> The additional behavior Mary Hefernan is

[2:52] looking for is Senator Pacwood's

[2:53] resignation. The former lobbyist who

[2:55] says Pacwood suddenly grabbed and kissed

[2:57] her called his apology and accepting of

[2:59] responsibility appropriate. But she

[3:01] wants to know why he allegedly called up

[3:03] her friends seeking information about

[3:05] her mental state to discredit her.

[3:07] >> I believe that Bob Pacwood should be

[3:09] removed of the power that he has to hurt

[3:10] other women.

[3:11] >> Julie Williamson has also been one of

[3:13] Pacwood's public accusers. She says the

[3:15] senator didn't say much of anything

[3:16] today. Williamson has accused him of

[3:18] kissing her and trying to take her

[3:20] clothes off when she worked in his

[3:21] office. She reiterated that Pacwood

[3:23] still doesn't get it.

[3:24] >> I don't believe that Bob Pacwood is

[3:26] sincere at all. I think that he's just

[3:28] throwing out things that he thinks might

[3:31] soften public opinion about his

[3:33] behavior, and I don't want to be a party

[3:36] to that.

[3:36] >> Tiffany Work says she was a 13-year-old

[3:39] model working at a political banquet in

[3:41] 1973 when Pacwood grabbed her buttocks.

[3:44] The senator denied Tiffany Work's

[3:45] accusation, the only charge he

[3:47] specifically refuted today. She said

[3:49] he's only paying lip service to the

[3:51] media. Opponents of Pacwood are waiting

[3:54] for the apparent next step, specific

[3:56] details to be analyzed by the Senate

[3:58] Ethics Committee, but some don't expect

[4:00] that will be sufficient either.

[4:01] >> And I'm not sure that a um process that

[4:06] is run by the senator's colleagues can

[4:09] offer due process fairly to all those

[4:11] people involved

[4:12] >> in Portland. Jim Hyde for the 10 o'clock

[4:14] news.

[4:16] >> Joining us now with a perspective on the

[4:18] day's events is our political analyst,

[4:19] Lyn Bergstein of Northwest Strategies.

[4:21] >> Len, let's start by asking you this.

[4:23] What do you think of the statement

[4:24] Senator Pacwood today and of made today

[4:26] and of the impression he made?

[4:28] >> Well, Kim, I think it was one of the

[4:29] most clever and one of the most

[4:31] controversial apologies I've ever seen

[4:34] in American uh politics.

[4:37] uh right up there probably with a

[4:38] checker speech by uh by Dick Nixon when

[4:40] he uh agreed and apologized to wrongs,

[4:43] but then he tried to to cover that up.

[4:45] Um it was clever because he defined what

[4:47] it was the conduct that he did that was

[4:50] wrong. He apologized for that and then

[4:52] he uh tried to ask people to judge them

[4:54] on his total record. It was

[4:55] controversial because I think most

[4:57] Oregonians or an equally large number of

[4:59] Oregonians will feel cheated that he

[5:01] didn't deal with the other issues that

[5:02] we're talking about. this whole question

[5:04] of uh the cover up and discrediting uh

[5:06] his uh alleged victims.

[5:08] >> Will Oregon voters accept this apology?

[5:10] >> I think it's I think this places him

[5:12] right back where he has always been in

[5:14] Oregon politics. Dave, he's a 50%

[5:16] senator. He in his last election, he got

[5:18] 52% of the vote. I think he's split the

[5:21] electorate right down the middle. It's

[5:22] obviously a very controversial issue. I

[5:24] think he's got a sizable number of

[5:26] people who are now willing to accept

[5:28] this apology and willing to put it

[5:29] behind him. And of course, his

[5:30] supporters are there to rally to him.

[5:32] But there's an equally large group of

[5:33] people who are just furious about this

[5:36] stuff.

[5:37] >> He has said that he will of course go

[5:38] before the Senate Ethics Committee that

[5:40] due process the due process will

[5:42] continue. What do you feel would be the

[5:45] most fair thing he might do to

[5:47] Oregonians or for Oregonians for his

[5:49] constituency?

[5:50] >> Well, I think you ought to come back

[5:51] here. we've talked about that I think is

[5:53] both something that's an important is

[5:55] for healing for those purposes and also

[5:57] for him to stand in front of the Oregon

[5:59] voters and and and deal with them on a

[6:01] one-on-one basis. Perhaps some sort of a

[6:03] open forum in a community or some place

[6:06] where he'd appear where media Oregon

[6:08] media folks could interview him and uh

[6:10] and have him stand up and answer all the

[6:12] questions in front of everybody.

[6:13] >> You you think that's what he should do?

[6:14] Do you think that's what he will do? at

[6:16] the very end of his press conference

[6:17] after it was already stated that the

[6:19] final question was asked and answered,

[6:20] somebody went up to him and said, "Are

[6:22] you coming back to Oregon anytime soon?"

[6:24] And he said, "Well, that's the end of

[6:25] the press conference. We're we're not

[6:26] taking any more questions."

[6:27] >> Conventional wisdom would say he'd stay

[6:28] in Washington DC. The Clinton

[6:30] administration begins to offer him some

[6:32] cover. He doesn't have to come forward.

[6:34] He can say, "I'll appear before the

[6:35] Senate Ethics Committee." I think if he

[6:37] was going to do a smart thing because it

[6:39] would be unexpected, he'd come back to

[6:40] Oregon, show up somewhere, and begin to

[6:42] face Oregon voters. After all, there's

[6:44] really nothing short of this recall that

[6:46] that can be done to him. He's there for

[6:48] six years and and I think it would be a

[6:49] touch of class for him to come back and

[6:51] begin to uh start a healing process.

[6:53] >> Glenn, thanks very much for your

[6:54] comments and your thoughts tonight. We

[6:56] will continue our special coverage of

[6:58] the Pacwood news conference in just a

[7:00] few minutes.

[7:01] >> But there is other news this Thursday

[7:02] night. We'll be back with that and David

[7:04] Apple will be here with a complete

[7:05] weather report. Stay with us.

[7:08] >> Schedule on Boyisee State.

[7:11] Offensive coordinator Al Borges has been

[7:13] offered the job to replace Allen. He'll

[7:14] decide tomorrow. And Rick Mirs quits in

[7:17] auto racing. Boy,

[7:18] >> good.

[7:19] >> Yeah, he's had a few big big crackups

[7:21] lately. He

[7:21] >> sure has. Thanks, Michael.

[7:24] partly.