|
COPYRIGHT 2007 Voxant, Inc.
Original Source: NEWSHOUR
JIM LEHRER: Good evening. I`m Jim Lehrer.
On the NewsHour tonight: the news of this Monday; then, two perspectives on the autoworkers strike against General Motors; the second of Paul Solman`s reports on military equipment priorities, tonight, the M- 16 rifle; and the next in our conversations with presidential candidates, Democrat Bill Richardson.
JIM LEHRER: The United Auto Workers went on strike today against General Motors. Some 73,000 workers were affected. It was the first national walkout against an American automaker since 1976.
The UAW said it was all about job security. President Ron Gettelfinger complained GM conducted one-sided negotiations. GM denied that. It said it was fully committed to working with the UAW. Despite the strike, the two sides returned to bargaining today. And we`ll have more on this story right after the news summary.
The president of Iran got a hot reception today in New York City. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced protests before speaking at Columbia University. Then, he listened as the school president called him a "petty and cruel dictator" and blasted him for questioning the Holocaust.
LEE BOLLINGER, President, Columbia University: For the illiterate and ignorant, this is dangerous propaganda. When you come to a place like this, this makes you, quite simply, ridiculous. You`re either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, President of Iran (through translator): Many parts of his speech, there were many insults and claims that were incorrect, regretfully. Of course, I think that he was affected by the press, the media, and the political sort of mainstream line that you read here.
JIM LEHRER: The Iranian leader went on to question who was really involved in the 9/11 attacks, and he dismissed claims that homosexuals in Iran are punished. He said, "In Iran, we don`t have homosexuals." Tomorrow, he`ll address the opening of the U.N. General Assembly.
In Iran today, authorities closed major border crossings to northeastern Iraq. An Iranian news agency said it was to protest the U.S. military holding an Iranian official in Iraq. He was allegedly smuggling weapons. President Ahmadinejad denied those charges; he also said the border closures were to safeguard religious pilgrims.
A suicide bomber in Iraq struck today at a meeting of Shiite and Sunni tribal leaders. He killed at least 15 Iraqis and wounded 30 more. The attacker blew himself up at a mosque compound in Baquba. The local police chief was among the dead.
Also today, an American soldier was killed north of Baghdad.
By the thousands, protesters in Myanmar marched today against the military government. The South Asian country, also known as Burma, has been ruled by generals for 45 years. We have a report on the protests narrated by Bill Neely of Independent Television News.
BILL NEELY, ITV News Correspondent: It`s a red tide, and it`s edging toward revolution. Nothing like it has been seen here for 20 years, monks today leading 100,000 demonstrators against one of the most repressive regimes in the world. And the world is watching.
MARK CANNING, British Ambassador to Myanmar: Each day it has got steadily larger, and, yes, it does seem to have a certain momentum to it. It takes us into largely unchartered territory in terms of what might
happen next.
BILL NEELY: It may be the perfect storm. Monks braving the elements and their military rulers to give voice to the frustrations of 50 million people who`ve seen their country become one of the world`s poorest.
The protests began with anger over fuel prices, but they`ve escalated. And this was the turning point: the first sight in four years of the woman who won an election landslide long ago and has been a prisoner almost ever since, greeting the protestors.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been under arrest behind her gate or in prison for 12 of the last 18 years. She has demanded democracy, and now the monks are marching for it, for the Oxford-educated Nobel laureate knows there have been false dawns before. Nineteen years ago, protests were crushed when the army killed 3,000 people. Now the army is threatening action against the monks.
They plan more marches. The stage is set for a showdown.
JIM LEHRER: Tomorrow, President Bush is expected to announce new sanctions against the regime in Myanmar in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.
Violent crime across the United States was up last year for the second straight year; the FBI reported that today. It said murders, robberies and other violent offenses rose nearly 2 percent in 2006. That amounted to 1.4 million crimes nationwide, just short of a record reached in 2002. The Justice Department has blamed the increase on gangs, guns and youth violence.
Police arrested a teenage suspect today in the shootings at Delaware State University. Eighteen-year-old Loyer Braden was charged with attempted murder and assault. It was unclear if he was a student. The attack last Friday wounded two students; there was no word on the motive.
The U.N. secretary-general appealed today for greater action on climate change. Ban Ki-Moon addressed world leaders at the first U.N. climate summit held in New York City. He told them, "The time for doubt has passed," and he urged countries to band together to cut greenhouse gases.
BAN KI-MOON, United Nations Secretary-General: National action alone is insufficient. No nation cannot rest this challenge on its own. No region can insulate itself from these climate change. That is why we need to confront climate change within a global framework, one that guarantees the highest level of international cooperation that is necessary.
JIM LEHRER: In December, a climate treaty conference will discuss proposals for a new agreement to cut emissions. President Bush has opposed negotiated limits; he favors voluntary cuts and research. The president will host his own climate talks later this week.
The famed mime Marcel Marceau died over the weekend at his home in France. His career spanned 60 years and took him around the world. He was best known for the character Bip in white makeup and wearing a white sailor suit and a hat adorned with a red flower. Marcel Marceau was 84 years old. We`ll have more on his art at the end of the program tonight.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 61 points to close at 13,759. The Nasdaq fell three points to close just below 2,668.
And that`s it for the news summary tonight. Now: the strike against General Motors; Paul Solman on the M-16 rifle; and a conversation with Bill Richardson.
JIM LEHRER: Judy Woodruff has our coverage of the GM strike.
JUDY WOODRUFF: From Michigan to Indiana and Texas, thousands of United Auto Workers walked off their jobs at General Motors plants and joined picket lines.
UNITED AUTO WORKER UNION MEMBER: Today is like, I guess, just a boiling point, because for the last four years we`ve given up so much trying to help the company itself, and we`ve just gotten nothing in return.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Representatives from the union and General Motors failed to reach an agreement for a new contract.
UNITED AUTO WORKER UNION MEMBER: Nobody wins. Nobody ever wins. It`s a shame that grown people can`t sit across the table from one another and not try to take something from somebody else.
JUDY WOODRUFF: GM`s contract with the union expired 10 days ago but was extended hour by hour. Both sides were mum on specifics, but talks centered on job security and on health care benefits; those benefits cost the company more than $5 billion a year, or about $1,500 a car.
GM has been pushing a so-called "health care trust," known as the Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association, or VEBA. That would allow the company to move $51 billion in unfunded health costs off its books into a trust to be managed by the union. For its part, the union sought more job security for its workers.
Ron Gettelfinger is the president of the UAW.
RON GETTELFINGER, President, United Auto Workers: We`re talking about investment, and we`re talking about job creation. We`re talking about product being committed into plant. We`re also talking about what our workers...
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
|
Bookmark this article
Print this article
Link to this article
Email this article
Digg It!
Add to del.icio.us
RSS
