Evening Newscast Wrap

W A S H I N G T O N, June 2, 2004
-- A product of Noted Now and The Note

News Wrap Archives

Scott Pelley substitutes for Dan Rather

LEAD: ABC leads with Oil money. ABC's Betsy Stark reports. CBS leads with an exclusive on the investigation of who in the Bush administration may have revealed the identity of a CIA operative. CBS' John Roberts reports. NBC leads with the Chalabi investigation. Andrea Mitchell reports.

ABC's Betsy Stark: Today OPEC's members seemed to agree with the Saudis that they need an increase in oil production to lower prices. This move is unlikely to translate to lower gas prices.

CBS' John Roberts reports that President Bush has spoken to an outside attorney to possibly represent him the investigation into who in the administration leaked the name of a CIA operative to the media last year. White House officials confirmed today that Bush has attorney Jim Sharp on standby. A federal grand jury has been hearing testimony since January in secret, attempting to ascertain the source of the leak that identified Valerie Plame as a CIA agent. Her husband, former Abassador Joe Wilson charges that his wife's cover was blown as payback to his challenge to last year's State of the Union address that Saddam Hussein was actively seeking uranium to build a bomb. Bush SOT: states he has no tolerance for such leaks, but expresses doubts that they will find answers.

NBC's Andrea Mitchell report on Ahmed Chalabi telling Iranian government that Washington had broken its secret intelligence code includes reference to fact that Chalabi was a "Bush family guest" at the State of the Union.

BUSH HIRES LAWYER: Jennings V/O: The White House confirms that President Bush has put a lawyer on standby in the event he has to testify in the investigation of who leaked the name of a CIA operative last year. The lawyer's name is Jim Sharp.

To match CBS, the NBC Nightly News added a Tom Brokaw tell at the top of the third block on Bush putting a personal attorney "on standby in case the president himself is forced to testify" in the Valerie Plame case.

TROOP STRENGTH: Jennings intro: The Army has said that soldiers will have to stay in the military longer than they may have planned, so that the Army has enough troops ready for combat to continue the mission in Iraq. Recruiting is on the decline. ABC's Martha Raddatz reports that Gen. Peter Pace, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a Senate panel today that the Air National Guard has the biggest decline at 23 percent. SOT Capt. Andrew Exum notes the difficulty for soldiers to serve longer than anticipated. Bill Nash SOT: "I think we are starting to see signs in the next six months to a year that we will have some major problems if we don't changes the incentives necessary to gain and then retain soldiers."

Pelley V/O: Today the army is expanding its so-called "stop loss program." This allows the army to maintain its troop strength in Iraq and Afghanistan.

IRAQI GOVERNMENT: ABC's Jeffrey Kofman reports Iraq's new government went straight to work. Brahaimi took a shot at Pual Bremeer. The new government takes over in 28 days. Al-Yawar's priority is clear: getting Iraqis to make the country safe. Security concerns were evident today, with more violence.

CBS's Kimberly Dozier reports that Brahimi said the new Iraqi government must work fast or the chaos will endanger elections for a permanent government in the future. If security does not improve in the next few months there will be a problem. The situation discourages the foreign investment that this country needs.

CHALABI: Jennings intro: The Bush administration confirmed today that the CIA and FBI have begun to investigate Chalabi. We have known the specifics for 11 days but we were one of the news organizations asked by the CIA not to report it because of national security, but we are now able to. ABC's Brian Ross reports Chalabi has denied the charges that he told Iran that the U.S. had broken its spy codes. U.S. officials tell ABC news that the code was broken several years ago, but Iran had continued to use it until a few days ago. Chalabi's supporters in the U.S. say it's no coincidence that the allegations came out when the U.S. tried to push Chalabi out.

CBS' Jim Stewart reports that Chalabi told the Iranians that he learned about the code from a drunk American. The exchange between Chalabi and an Iranian agent was recorded in the U.S. and led to the raid on Chalabi's house. Chalabi has a history of mixed reviews in the U.S. The CIA blames him for some of the bad intelligence about WMDs, while the Pentagon credits him with information that led to a quick victory over Saddam Hussein.

BUSH TODAY: Jennings V/O: President Bush gave the commencement address at the air force academy in Colorado today. "He compared the fight against terror to the struggle against tyranny in World War two. He told graduating cadets that Iraq was a central front in a broad, global war against terrorism. And he said the US and its allies can win the battle by bringing freedom and reform to the Middle East."

Brokaw V/O: Kerry doesn't want to scare people but he thinks it's only a matter of time until a big attack in the US and that he thinks America is not prepared. Brokaw also reported that at the Air Force Academy, Bush compared his war on terror with America's mission in World War II. A Bush SOT was included: "Like the second world war, are attack began with a ruthless surprise attack on the United States. We will not forget that treachery and we will accept nothing less than victory."

Pelley V/O Bush likened the war on terror to the war against tyranny in WWII. He said the U.S. will prevail now just as it did then.

ABC:

1. Oil Money (Betsy Stark, New York, Pkg.)

2. Troops (Martha Raddatz, Washington, D.C., Pkg.)

3. Iraqi Interim Government (Jeffrey Kofman, Baghdad, Pkg.)

4. Chalabi (Brian Ross, New York, Pkg.)

5. White House confirms President Bush has hired a lawyer (Peter Jennings, Washington, D.C.)

6. Bush commencement address (Peter Jennings, Washington, D.C.)

5. The Justice Department is using the tapes in its investigation which is expected to result in more indictments of Enron officials (John Cochran, Washington, D.C., Pkg.)

6. Obesity (Lisa Stark, Philadelphia, Pkg.)

7. Obesity Myth (Timothy Johnson, Boston, Pkg.)

8. New Prozac study (John Mackenzie, New York, Pkg.)

CBS:

1. Bush seeks outside attorney about who leaked cover of CIA operative last year (John Roberts, Las Vegas, Pkg.)

2. Angry reaction to Enron tapes (Vince Gonzales, Los Angeles, Pkg.)

3. Chalabi (Jim Stewart, Washington, D.C., Pkg.)

4. Bush's commencement address (Scott Pelley, New York)

5. Troop strength (Scott Pelley, New York)

6. Iraq today (Kimberly Dozier, Baghdad, Pkg.)

7. Bush's commencement address (Scott Pelley, New York)

8. Janet Karpinsky investigation (David Martin, The Pentagon, Pkg)

9. Attorney General of New York suing the makers of Paxil (Scott Pelley, New York)

10. Teenagers smuggling drugs (Bill Whitaker, Mesa, Arizona, Pkg.)

11. No more ladies' night (Scott Pelley, New York)

12. Attorney found a tape from outtakes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" that shows his client is innocent in a murder case (Jerry Bowen, Los Angeles, Pkg.)

NBC:

1. Chalabi (Andrea Mitchell, Washington, Pkg.)

2. Exclusive interview with Gen. Abizaid (Jim Miklaszewski, Baghdad, Pkg.)

3. Pentagon lets tens of thousands of troops know that they will have to serve for duration of deployment (Tom Brokaw, New York)

4. Militants Killed (Tom Brokaw, V/O)

5. Fight over homeland security fund formula that gives Wyoming much more than CA and NY (Pete Williams, Washington, Pkg.)

6. Kerry warns of coming attack in US; Bush compares war on terror to World War II (Tom Brokaw, New York)

7. Bush will travel to France for D-Day anniversary (Tom Brokaw, New York)

8. Michael Moore movie will show up in us theaters after all, clip of movie shown, movie out June 25 (Tom Brokaw, New York)

9. One more Democrat in the House of Representatives--Stephanie Herseth-who fills seat vacated by Republican Janklow (Tom Brokaw, New York)

11. No complaints from US serviceman Peter Damon who returned from Iraq as a double amputee (Brian Williams, Washington, D.C., Pkg.)

12. Bush has put a personal attorney on standby in case the president himself is forced to testify (Tom Brokaw, New York)

13. Old planes might get a new job fighting forest fires (Robert Hager, Arizona Desert, Pkg.)

14. New study on children and anti-depressants shows prozac works and works best when (Robert Bazell, Pkg.)