Evening Newscast Wrap

W A S H I N G T O N, June 3, 2004
-- A product of Noted Now and The Note

News Wrap Archives

Leads:

All nets lead with Tenet's resignation. ABC: Martha Raddatz/ CBS: David Martin/ NBC: Andrea Mitchell

ABC's Martha Raddatz reports the resignation seemed abrupt. "Reaction on the hill today was far from charitable." SOTs from Hill. Tenet will serve until mid-July.

NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports that officials say Tenet wanted to leave first last fall. Bush says he did not know of Tenet's decision until last night. Perhaps his biggest intelligence failures were WMDs in Iraq. Powell mislead UN about those weapons. John McLaughlin will take over for now. Those who know Tenet say he is exhausted. Robert Gates SOT. "There is another CIA resignation", James Pavitt is retiring.

CBS' David Martin's piece was a sympathetic look at Tenet noting the fact that Tenet was not forced to resign "a long time ago" is a "testament to his popularity."

Tenet's Records

ABC's Dan Harris reports after 7 years in the CIA, Tenet may be remembered after his Oval office meeting in 2002, described in Bob Woodward's book. Richard Clark SOT. It was the CIA that told Powell that Iraq had the capacity to produce biological weapons. In a speech last February, Tenet defended his agency. Richard Clark says Tenet cannot be help responsible for 9/11. "The 9/11 commission has blamed Tenet for presiding over a dysfunctional agency which failed to tell the FBI that two of the 9/11 hijackers were in the country until right before the attacks." Some former intelligence officials support Tenet, saying that he did a good job of improving morale, recruitment, and intelligence.

NBC's Pete Williams reports that Tenet's supporters say that he spent so much time taking the heat that people forget how much he has done over the past years. His first tumble came when India tested nuclear weapons. Among his successes, was sending troops to Afghanistan after 9/11. Some say Tenet allowed the CIA to be too political. James Banford SOT. If reformers get their way to create one intelligence agency, Tenet may leave another legacy: the last powerful CIA.

Tenet and the Questions

Jennings/Stephanopoulos 2-way. Stephanopoulos: "All anyone wants to know is did he jump or was he pushed? It's a pretty safe bet that even if he was not fired, President Bush did not beg him to stay. This helps Bush turn the page in the election and helps the president say he is addressing the problem. Democrats are saying that the whole National Security situation is not being handled well."

CBS' Wyatt Andrews' looked at whether Tenet really left to be with his family or whether the White House gave him a push, Andrews interviewed former CIA Director Stansfield Turner who offered his opinion that Bush needed a scapegoat. Sen. Bob Graham said he thought Tenet had become "too politicized. He was telling his boss what he wanted to hear even though the intelligence did not support that." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, "I think the responsibility goes far beyond Tenet."

Bush in Italy

NBC's David Gregory reports that President Bush had a vote of confidence from Australian Prime Minister John Howard before he left. Howard assured his continued support in Iraq. Bush meets with the Pope in Italy then Chirac in France, but the center stage remains at the UN. There is still resistance from France who wants Iraqis to have the final say. In a sign of how unpopular Bush remains in Europe, Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi warned Bush of protests.

CBS' Bill Plante previews the massive protests that are expected to greet President Bush as he tries to line up more European support for the war in Iraq. Georgetown Prof. Kupchan offered his opinion that Europeans are not going to "do Bush any favors" and that they're "not going to do anything to help his re-election." Plante included Bush's interview with a French magazine in which he said "I've never been angry at the French" and that French President Chirac is welcome to come to Crawford, Texas to "see some cows." Plante closed his piece by suggesting that Bush is going to have a hard time convincing countries who already have troops in Iraq to keep them there.

Bush Seeks Lawyer

Williams V/O: "Director Tenet's resignation comes a day after the White House announces that Bush has met with a lawyer. President Bush confirmed that today and said it was a serious investigation.

Swingtown USA

CBS's John Axelrod's package was negative for Bush, depicting female voters who had been solidly in the president's camp now undecided and giving Sen. John Kerry a closer look. Jim Axelrod noted that the economy tops the list of voter concerns but that the single greatest predictor of how someone will vote is how they feel about the war in Iraq. The biggest gripe about Iraq: the mounting casualty rate and the image that things are getting worse, not better. The final interview was with John Annoni, a Republican who in April was leaning towards the President but who is now looking at Iraq and who isn't so sure. Annoni summed up Kerry and Bush as "a rookie coming to bat for the first time" and "a guy who has been in the major leagues for some time" but who has been "in a slump."

OPEC Meeting

ABC's Betsy Stark reports that the conference decided to increase "the OPEC production ceiling." They say that they will pump another two million barrels of oil a day. Ann Thomson reports that oil inventories hit their highest levels since 2002. The government says gas prices have already started to fall.

Stem Cell Research

CBS' look at the California ballot measure on stem cell research devoted more time to the pro-stem cell research side.

ABC

Jennings in Virginia

1. Tenet (Martha Raddatz, Washington, PKG)

2. Tenet's Record (Dan Harris, New York, PKG)

3. Tenet (Jennings/Stephanopolus 2-way)

4. Sistani on interim government (Peter Jennings, Virginia)

5. The OPEC Oil Summit (Betsy Stark, New York, PKG)

6. Spelling Bee (Peter Jennings, New York)

7. Obesity Summit (Peter Jennings, New York)

8. Kids Ads (Bob Woodruff, New York PKG)

9. Closer Look: Obesity (John McKenzie, Lithonia Georgia, PKG)

10. D-Day Remembrance (Jim Wooten, France, PKG)

NBC

Brokaw in Normandy, France; Williams in New York

1. Tenet's Resignation (Andrea Mitchell, Washington, D.C. PKG)

2. Tenet's Records (Pete Williams, New York, PKG)

3. Bush in Italy (David Gregory, Rome, PKG)

4. Bush Seeks Lawyer (Brian Williams, New York)

5. Sistani (Brian Williams, New York)

6. More Fighting in Najaf and Kufah (Jim Miklaszweski, Baghdad, PKG)

7. NBC In-Depth: Pakistani-British man trained by al Qaeda to hijack airplanes; FBI let him go (Lisa Meyers, London, PKG)

8. Oil Prices (Ann Thomson, New York)

9. Dow lost more than 67points (Brian Williams, New York)

10. Belmont Stakes-Smarty Jones (Bob Faw, Belmont, PKG)

11. D-Day Remembrance (Brokaw, Normandy, France)

CBS

1. Tenet's resignation (David Martin, Washington, PKG)

2. Did the White House give Tenet a push? (Wyatt Andrews, Washington, PKG)

3. Sadr attacks again, no casualties (Scott Pelley, New York)

4. Bush European tour drawing protests (Bill Plante, Rome, PKG)

5. "Swingtown USA" has growing doubts about Bush because of Iraq (Jim Axelrod, Allentown, Pa., PKG)

6. Bush confirms he has contacted a lawyer in Plame case (Scott Pelley, New York)

7. OPEC oil production (Scott Pelley, New York)

8. CBS honors fallen hero Chris Gelineau (Dan Rather, New York)

9. California ballot measure on stem cell research (Bill Whitaker, Los Angeles, PKG)

10. Prescription drug cards experience a drop in prices. (Scott Paley, New York)

11. Severe storms in Texas and Oklahoma (Scott Pelley, New York)

12. House votes to restrict sales of steroids, similar bill pending in Senate, what you should know about teens and steroids (Vince Gonzales, Plano, Texas)