Market briefing --- Matt (slow)
Friday's funeral services --- Mark (slow)
welcome to a special edition of “world financial report.” i am matt nesto. well, financial markets in the u.s. closed friday for former president ronald reagan’s funeral. the services in washington brought to a close a week of public mourning and remembrance for a manual skwraoeuzed as someone whose love of america never waivered and whose optimism was infectious even in the worst of times. mark crumpton joins us with more on friday’s funeral services for the 40th president and has all the details. mark?
>> matt, thank you. washington’s national cathedral was filled to overflowing with dignitaries who had come to pay their respects to ronald reagan. among those in attendance, america’s four ex-presidents -- ford, carter, bush and clinton. former soviet leader gorbachev, canadian prime minister mulruney tony blair, britain’s prince charles, kofi annan and members of president reagan’s administration. among those eulagizing president reagan and his father, vice president for eight years.
>> ronald reagan belongs to the ages now. but we preferred it when he belonged to us. in a life of good fortunate, he valued above all the gracious gift of his wife, nancy. during his career, ronald reagan passed through a thousand crowded places but there was only one person he said who could make him lonely by just leaving the room. america honors you, nancy, for the loyalty and love you gave this man on a wonderful journey and to that journey’s end.
>> ronald reagan was beloved because what he believed. he believed in america so he made it his shining city on a hill. he believed in freedom so he abgtd on behalf of its values and ideals. he believes in tomorrow so the great communicator became the great liberator.
>> in a poignant moment, former british prime minister margaret thatcher, slowed recently by a series of strokes, delivered a taped message in which she remembered her friend and closest political ally.
>> ronald reagan also embodied another great cause, what arnold bennett once called the great cause of. his policies had a freshness and optimism that one converts from every class and every nation and ultimately from the very heart of the evil empire.
>> around the country, church bells rang 40 times in honor of the nation’s 40th president. around the world, american guns fired in salutes to mr. reagan. many u.s. military base planned 21-gun salutes at midday and at dusk around a 50-gun salute planned worldwide. following the services, the white house plane carrying mr. reagan’s body took off from andrews air force base outside of washington headed to california. mourners and military officials watched as the hearse carrying mr. reagan’s body arrived at andrews. after the casket was renewed, the air force band played “hail to the chief” followed by a 21- gun salute. he will be laid to rest on the grounds of his library in his beloved california. nancy reagan, the love of ronald reagan’s life for over 50 years with this poignant moment at the u.s. capitol rotunda on friday morning. the former first lady of the united states, nancy reagan. that’s the latest. back to you.
>> a week unforgetable images and stories. thank you, mark, very much. we continue our coverage of former president ronald reagan’s legacy. allan lictman of american university. he wrote a column entitled “the reagan legacy” where he states ronald reagan is the conservative icon of american history saying he will be the guilt-edged standard against which history will measure all conservative leaders including the current president. he joined us earlier from washington. i asked him to elaborate on that statement.%
>> in american history, two great forces have contended for supremacy politically. they have been relatively equal over time. liberalism and conserve teufp. but from the 1920’s through most of the 20th century, conservatism had been in eclipse politically. ronald reagan revived the conservative tradition in america. ironically he did so not by narrowing conservatism to a zealous base but by making conservatism more optimistic, more open and more inclusive. he won in 1980 not by rallying conservatives but by getting 15% more of the votes of moderates than gerald ford, considered less conservative, had gotten four years earlier. he also didn’t push the devisive social issue thats religious rite was asking him to do. never made abortion or school prayer or homosexuality central. his conservatism was designed to open economic opportunity here at home, to bring the world to a peaceful end to the cold war and critically as well to open up a new global economy based on free trade and open investment. it was quite a conservative accomplishment.
>> professor lictman, at time they were called reagan democrats. do you suppose those voters that could swing to the right and support a staunch conservative republican are still available if approached the right way?
>> they are absolutely still available and they will likely decide this presidential election. most of the electorate is pretty polarized these days, republican or democrat. but there are still those swing voters. they’re heavily ethnic, heavily catholic. they tend to be concentrated in the midwest and to some extent the border states. you could say they are the battleground voters of this year. it remains to be seen whether the record of george w. bush an the approach will work with them in the same way that ronald reagan did. to get 49 out of 50 states as a conservative, really the first conservative since herbert hoover is quite extraordinary.
>> we only have about 30 seconds left. your closing sentence, as americans responded to the man more than to his message, even his opponents found it difficult to dice like ronald reagan.
>> exactly so. ronald reagan always had his eye on the nation. he never felt it was ronald reagan’s ego that was taking over. that was critical. and he had a range of communication from soaring rhetoric to his wonderful, self- deprecating one-liners that in a single stroke could dispel an entire issue and make people connect with him once again all across the political spectrum. we are seeing today even young people connecting with ronald reagan.
>> well, also president bush coming under pressure from nancy reagan and a growing number of republican lawmakers to change a policy that limits federal funding for stem cell research. she wrote to bush in 2001 urging more stem cell research. former president ronald reagan died last saturday, 10 years after announcing thae had the brain-destroying disease of alzheimer’s. 58 republican and democratic senators wrote to president bush last week saying stem cells have the potential to treat diseases including diabetes, parkinson’s and spinal cord injuries which affect more than 100 million americans. well, speaking of americans, voters continue to express concern about president bush’s handling of the iraq war and the economy. democratic presidential candidate john kerry extended his lead a lead over george w. bush in polls out this week. the l.a. times’ survey of registered voters shows kerry leading bush 51-44 in a two-man race a.gallup poll of a three- person race with nader shows kerry leading 49% to 43% with nader taking in 5% of the poll. in may bush was leading by a point. both polls have a 3% margin of error. well, fed chairman alan greenspan was first appointed by ronald reagan. on tuesday of next week, greenspan will testify in search of a fifth term. we’ll have a look ahead to that event and others after this short break.
