The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

MR. LEHRER: Good evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. On the NewsHour tonight, a Newsmaker interview with Sec. of State Warren Christopher and two younger views of Presidential politics. Kwame Holman reports on a mock convention, Margaret Warner talks to six college newspaper editors. It all follows our summary of the news this Tuesday. NEWS SUMMARY

MR. LEHRER: The United States dispatched an anti-terrorism to Israel today. Special bomb-detecting equipment was also sent. President Clinton said the people and the equipment were to help the Israeli government and the Palestinian authority combat Hamas, the militant Muslim group. Hamas has claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings in Israel in the last nine days in which fifty-seven people have been killed. The President discussed the bombings during a speech to local government officials in Washington.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: These are desperate and fanatic acts aimed not just at killing innocent people, including innocent children, but at killing the growing prospects for peace in the Middle East. They must not succeed. The United States has always stood with the people of Israel through good times and bad. And we stand with them today.

MR. LEHRER: In Israel today, the government rejected a truce offer from Hamas. Israeli troops barricaded Palestinian residents inside hundreds of West Bank villages and towns and sealed the homes of 10 suspected Hamas members. The Israeli military commander in the West Bank said more than 100 suspected militants have been arrested. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said the Israeli actions go completely against the peace accords. We'll talk to Sec. of State Christopher about the Middle East right after this News Summary. A U.S. Army spokeswoman said today an American woman soldier was raped in Northern Bosnia. The investigation is focusing on two Czech soldiers who are members of the NATO-led peacekeeping force. The incident occurred last Saturday. This was another important day in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination. Eight states had primaries today, from Maine to Georgia. Washington State and Minnesota held caucuses. Two hundred and fifty-nine delegates, one-fourth the number needed for nomination, were at stake. Going into today, Bob Dole led in polls in all eight primary states. Congresswoman Enid Waldholtz of Utah said today she would not seek re-election. The first- term Republican said she could not clear her name by the November election. A federal grand jury is investigating possible campaign finance violations and other alleged crimes by her estranged husband, Joe. The Senate voted today to impose additional sanctions on Cuba. The 74 to 22 vote came 10 days after Cuban jets shot down two U.S. civilian planes, killing four Cuban-Americans. The legislation will help Cuban exiles take legal action in U.S. courts against foreign investors in Cuba. Debate on the Senate floor was heated.

SEN. PHIL GRAMM, [R] Texas: I say enough is enough. Let's get rid of Fidel Castro. Let's do it in this century. Let's start with this bill, and then let's get serious.

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD, [D] Connecticut: Pay attention, Cuban- Americans. Pay attention. The bulk of you are not going to be benefited from this. It's the fat cats that are going to get the money, not you. Pay attention to this bill, and pay attention to those who would seek to have this legislation passed and what their interests are.

MR. LEHRER: The bill now goes to the House. In economic news today, the Commerce Department released two indicators showing a rise in January manufacturing production. Orders for durable goods, such as aircraft and automobiles, advanced .2 percent. Factory orders rose .5 percent. Minnie Pearl died last night in Nashville. The long-time country comedienne suffered a stroke 10 days ago. She was known for her trademark "Howdy!" and her straw hat, complete with price tag. Minnie Pearl's real name was Sarah Ophelia Cannon. She was 83 years old. And that's it for the News Summary tonight. Now it's on to Secretary of State Christopher, a mock political convention, and six college newspaper editors. NEWSMAKER

MR. LEHRER: We do go first tonight to the Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, who is with us now for a Newsmaker interview. Mr. Secretary, welcome.

WARREN CHRISTOPHER, Secretary of State: Hello, Jim.

MR. LEHRER: On, on Israel first, can these bombings be stopped?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: We can certainly make a strong effort to stop them, Jim. There's probably no foolproof way to stop them, no absolute assurance, but we're going to work very hard. We're going to aid Israel in every way we can to stop these bombings.

MR. LEHRER: The actions that Israel has taken in the last 48 hours, 24 hours, et cetera, the closing down of travel back and forth between the West Bank and Gaza and Israel, the various things I just reported in the News Summary, are those the things they should be doing?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Those are decisions taken by the Israeli government. There's a determination there to be firm. After all, as you said, what's gone on here in nine days, four major attacks, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, or fifty-nine people killed, obviously something had to be done. They've taken very firm action. Their actions are somewhat similar to what they had done before to try to prevent these terrorists, these people that are willing to give up their lives in order to kill innocent Israelis to keep them from coming to Israel.

MR. LEHRER: The decision by the U.S. today, by the President today, to send an anti-terrorism team and some bomb detecting equipment, that's more symbolic than anything else, is it not?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: No. It's more than that, Jim. Prime Minister Peres called the President yesterday, and they discussed this. And Prime Minister Peres asked that we send this bomb-detecting equipment. It's quite highly sophisticated equipment. When he went to the manufacturer last night, he had only seven of those large devices there. We arranged to get all of them and put them on a plane and take them out today. Now, they can be very useful to the Israelis. We--

MR. LEHRER: What kind of things are they?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Well, they are quite sophisticated sensing equipment which can be used at a border or at a barrier to make sure that whoever goes through there isn't carrying a bomb. And they are perhaps a larger, more sophisticated version of what you see going into an airport.

MR. LEHRER: I see.

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: In addition to that, Jim, we're going to be sending out a team of very experienced people who will help coordinate the work the work between the Palestinians and the Israelis and other countries in the region. So it has some symbolic importance, but it has some very tangible importance, and it's only the beginning. The President has urged us in the strongest terms to respond to the Israelis' request and some indication of how rapidly we're going to respond is Peres's request was yesterday about mid-day, and by this morning we had those devices on an airplane headed for Israel.

MR. LEHRER: Now Israeli spokesmen, including the Israeli ambassador to the United States who was on this program last night, said that the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat must also do more to combat Hamas and these terrorists. What do you think about that, what about the Authority has done thus far, and what it must do now?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Well, they started doing more in the last few days. I think that Chairman Arafat has got to deal with the military infrastructure of Hamas, that to deal with the people in Hamas who are responsible for conducting these raids. There was a time in the last few weeks when Chairman Arafat was trying to have a dialogue with Hamas, trying to bring them into some coordination with him. I think that effort has failed, and now he's really going to have to bear down on them. He's going to have to realize that his own survival is at stake, as well as the peace process.

MR. LEHRER: Why is his own survival at stake?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Jim, these attacks are just as much against Arafat as they are against Peres and the Israelis. They're trying to prevent the Palestinian Authority from governing. They're trying to end this peace process. They're trying to reverse the peace process, put it back into the fighting days. The Hamas is trying to prevent the peaceful integration of the West Bank that's been going on under cooperation between Arafat and Peres.

MR. LEHRER: Now, you've talked about the contacts that have gone back and forth, communications that have gone back and forth between the Israeli government and the U.S. government. What about communications with Arafat and his Authority and the U.S.?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Oh, we've been talking with him. I talk to him on the telephone frequently and very recently, and I emphasized to him the time for talk had ended, the time for rhetoric had ended.

MR. LEHRER: And you told him what you just told me?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Yes, sir, I did.

MR. LEHRER: And what did he say?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: He said we're going to do everything we can. He said, I understand that the time has come when we have to take some very firm action. And he has. He's been making arrests, rounding up people, and I think, you know, really, we're going to have to watch for his actions now. We're going to be monitoring it very closely. We're giving him some aid. I think it would be short- sighted, self-defeating to cut off that aid, but the aid shouldn't go forward unless he continues to cooperate.

MR. LEHRER: What, what do you think about the Israeli position that if, in act, the Authority under Arafat does not move strongly enough against these Hamas people within their areas that the Israeli government will, will move in there and do it? How do you feel about that?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Well, we'll have to watch that develop, Jim. The Israeli government will make the decisions they regard as in their own self-interest. We have to ask ourselves, have to remember what it is that is causing them to act. They're acting because of the deaths. They're acting because of the death of innocent people, innocent children. Obviously, the government has the right of self-survival. They have a right to protect themselves, and that's what they're doing at the present time.

MR. LEHRER: Now, there's another whole part to this, Mr. Secretary, of course, outside what's happening there on the ground, and that has to do with the diplomatic part.

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Yes.

MR. LEHRER: For instance, a big point was made today that Syria has not said a word of condemnation or said anything about these bombings. How should we interpret that?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Well, Jim, we think that all the people in the region should not only condemn the bombing but should cooperate with efforts to make sure that Hamas cannot repeat this. You know, there's quite a difference this time around. The peace process has made enough difference so that Israel can look to its neighbors, look to Jordan. They can look to Egypt, and expect cooperation. And I talked to Foreign Minister Faraq of--Faraq-Shar of Syria today, and urged him to take steps to ensure that Hamas could not use Syria as a launching place for this kind of an attack, but we're not singling out Syria. We're saying that to all the neighbors in the regions. Indeed, Jim, I'm going to be meeting tomorrow with the ambassadors from all the countries in the region, encouraging cooperation in fighting this terrorism, and also encouraging what is really our second purpose here, and that is to preserve and renew the peace process. In the long run, the peace process is the answer to this kind of terror.

MR. LEHRER: What did the Syrian foreign minister say to you?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Well, he took it on board. We had a vigorous discussion.

MR. LEHRER: Hamas has an office, right, very openly has an office in Damascus, does it not?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Yes, it does have an office in Damascus, and I called that to his attention. I told him I thought that fact was not a very strong signal to be sending at the present time.

MR. LEHRER: Do you have any kind of intelligence information that traces this, these acts back to that office in Damascus in any whatsoever?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Jim, we don't have any information of that kind. I don't talk about intelligence matters--

MR. LEHRER: Sure.

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: --but we were not trying to say this particular attack or this particular series of attacks are attributable to the Syrians or any other country. We're simply saying that this is the time to crack down on Hamas, because they claimed credit. I think particularly in our sights at the present time is Iran because they've been supporting Hamas, openly supporting Hamas financially by tactical advice, and I would really want to draw a distinction between Iran and the other neighbors. We're calling this to the attention of all the neighbors, but I think the world needs to know that Iran bears heavy responsibility for its support of the Hamas.

MR. LEHRER: What can you do about Iran besides call in the world's attention to them?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Well, as you know, we've cut off all trade with Iran, and we've urged our, our allies and trading partners not to have preferential deals, not to do things for Iran that give them more money to support these kind of terrorism. We're really alone in trying to isolate Iran, but we're going to continue working at it, and we're not going to give up.

MR. LEHRER: Two countries that are often mentioned as doing a lot of business with Iran, Germany and France, both of whom are big allies of ours, have they been contacted officially and directly by the U.S. government in the last 24 hours, say, hey, come on, put some heat on Iran?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Well, not in the last 24 hours perhaps, but continually over the last several months, and we'll be contacting them starting tomorrow. We're going to have a major diplomatic endeavor dealing with those countries who have been having closer relations with Iran than we think they should, but it's an overall effort, Jim. First priority here is to stop the terrorism, encourage other nations to join us in that endeavor, and second, to try to renew and preserve the peace process.

MR. LEHRER: The peace--most everyone is now saying, Mr. Secretary, that unless these bombings are stopped and stopped now, I mean, there can't be another one tomorrow and another one after that, the peace process is over, because of just the fear and that- -of--the fear of politics that will be present in Israel. Do you agree with that, that it is a short, short fuse now?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: I think we have to move very dramatically and effectively at the present time. There is no assurance that we can absolutely stop them, but the President and I and the rest of our government are going to be working very hard to assist the Israelis. Clearly, unless we get this stopped, the peace process is going to be harmed by this endeavor, no question about that, Jim. But we don't give up easily. We've got a big stake in this. It's very much in our national interest to pursue it, and we will.

MR. LEHRER: And do you have the feeling that it--that there's somebody out there helping you besides Israel and the Palestinian Authority? Is anybody really involved in trying to do something about this at this point?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Oh, absolutely. That's the difference between now and how it would have been before the peace process. The prime minister of Jordan, Mr. Cabri, made a very good statement today. We can expect Jordan's support on this. We're sure that we'll have support from, from Egypt as well. We expect other countries in the region to join us in this endeavor. This is going to be a major diplomatic endeavor to see if we can't put more pressure on Hamas and to try to make sure--and the Islamic Jihad--and make sure there's not a repetition.

MR. LEHRER: And do you think you're going to be able to prevent countries like Syria and others from allowing Hamas members in as a kind of safe haven for their, for their bombing enterprises?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: That'll be our aim, Jim. It won't be perfect, but we'll make strides.

MR. LEHRER: All right. Changing subjects here quickly, Mr. Secretary, on Cuba, Cuba reported in the News Summary just now, that the Senate passed the bill that tightens the sanctions, when- -that's going to the House now--if and when that bill comes to the President, is he going to sign it?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Yes, that has been worked out between Congress and the President. You know, with the shooting down of our two aircraft and the killing of the four civilians, there was a wave of indignation, a natural wave, that went through this country and went through the Congress as well, and I think the passage of this bill is a reflection of that. It does provide a right of action for Cubans here, for others here in the United States who've had their property confiscated. It tries to focus on those companies that might be dealing in Cuban property or affecting Cuban properties. The important thing to keep in mind is that this action by Congress is the direct reflection of that unjustified shooting down of the planes. I've been just back from a trip through Latin America, and I was struck that everyplace I went the countries involved, even though they might have a tactical difference with us on how to deal with the Cuban situation, recognized that the action of Cuba here was a violation of international law and condemned it in those terms.

MR. LEHRER: What was the consensus about why Castro and his people did this? Were they--does everybody believe they were looking for a confrontation with the United States, or was this a serious error made, or was there a consensus?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Jim, I don't think even in Latin America there's any way to plumb President Castro's mind. There's a lot of speculation about it. The best informed judgment seemed to be that President Castro thought that there was beginning to be too much political freedom, or at least a move in that direction, unnerved him, and he thought he had to, had to lash back. Now, this, this particular shooting down is not in isolation. As you know, he has taken very harsh action against dissidents. He's taken some very harsh actions against those who are supporting the civil rights, human rights cause in Cuba. This--the shooting down was obviously the most dramatic, obviously the most harmful, but over the last three or four weeks on the political side of things, i.e., on the human rights side of things, Castro has gone back from very slight progress that he seemed to be making. That was recognized throughout Latin America. I think there was a sense of disappointment, a very modest step in an encouraging direction had been reversed by Castro, and what a disappointment that was, because, you know, he's the only non-democracy in the entire Western Hemisphere. It was so rewarding to go to Latin America, and thirty-four out of the thirty-five countries practicing democracies, and I think that leaves Cuba very much isolated.

MR. LEHRER: Now, you very pointedly on your Latin American trip did not go to Colombia, because it got on the State Department, on your list, for not doing enough to combat drug trafficking. What is our relationship with Colombia now as a result of that?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Well, you know, we have that certification process. We have to look at the facts. We have to determine what we think is a most accurate appraisal. The statute requires us to decertify countries that we regard as not cooperating with the drug enforcement effort. It was very hard for us to conclude that a country whose top echelon of officials has so much corruption in it, that it was very hard for us to feel that they were really cooperating with us, and so we reached that conclusion. We don't reach those conclusions with respect to any country, but we felt justified in doing so. In the past, that decertification procedure I think has had a good effect on a number of countries because they know they're going to be reviewed. We hope that the decertification will cause Colombia to correct its ways, that we can sometime in the future certify them again. Obviously, we would like to do that, but it'll depend upon whether there is or not good cooperation.

MR. LEHRER: Is the situation getting worse in Colombia, rather than better, as far as corruption at the top related to drugs?

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Well, it's certainly worse than it was last year. Last year, we did not decertify them, and we've done so this year. It is a--it is an evaluation we have to make every year, and the level of corruption is such that we could, we found we could not certify them this year.

MR. LEHRER: All right. Mr. Secretary, thank you very much.

SEC. CHRISTOPHER: Thank you, Jim.

MR. LEHRER: Still to come on the NewsHour tonight, a mock convention and six college newspaper editors. FOCUS - GENERATIONAL VIEWS

MR. LEHRER: Now a preview of the Republican Convention. It took place last weekend at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. Kwame Holman was there.

MR. HOLMAN: Students at Washington and Lee University in Southern Virginia own one of the oldest traditions in the history of American politics. Every four years since 1908, they have held a mock convention to nominate a candidate for President. The convention is always held for the party not currently occupying the White House. Believe it or not, it's a tradition the students take very seriously. The parade down Main Street in small town Lexington is just the kick-off of the two-day event.

SPOKESMAN: Of course, they're not the last blood of the Republican Party anymore. That's what you're looking for, the future of the Republican Party.

MR. HOLMAN: This past Friday and Saturday, Washington and Lee University held its 1996 mock convention. The mostly conservative student body was particularly excited because it was the first Republican Convention to be held in 16 years. The students kept with the tradition of inviting to the convention the top political figures of the day. This year, House Majority Whip Tom Delay and Virginia's senior Senator John Warner, a Washington and Lee graduate himself, attended. Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour spoke Friday evening.

HALEY BARBOUR, Republican National Chairman: I don't know who our nominee is going to be, and you may tomorrow be the ones who get it right.

MR. HOLMAN: And William Bennett, the former education secretary, now chairman of Lamar Alexander's Presidential campaign, spoke at the Saturday morning session.

WILLIAM BENNETT, Chairman, Alexander Campaign: It's great to be here. I have heard about this convention and it doesn't--there doesn't seem much mock about it. This seems very real. I hope this is real. [audience cheering]

MR. HOLMAN: But it was former Vice President Dan Quayle who proved to be the crowd favorite. The reception he got nearly moved him to enter the race for the Presidency, himself.

DAN QUAYLE: With this kind of enthusiasm and this kind of welcome, I think I'm just going to throw away my speech and go ahead and announce right here. [crowd cheering] Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that a Republican is going back to the White House in November?

MR. HOLMAN: What attracts such big names to the mock convention is its impressive success rate. Students at Washington and Lee have chosen correctly the party's ultimate nominee 15 times in 20 tries. They've chosen right every time but once since 1948, and so during this complex political year, the pressure was on these students not to choose wrong.

BOB ROSS, Political Chairman, Mock Convention: I'm not sleeping at night. It is such a tough race. It's up in the air. It's first after Arizona. We were counting Forbes out. Now he's back in.

MR. HOLMAN: Students at Washington and Lee split into delegations representing all 50 states and the territories, spending weeks researching the candidates, gauging their chances, frequently calling state and county party officials, enlisting the help of political scientists, and closely monitoring the polls. The goal of each delegation is to select the candidate voters back home would select, an easy task for the New Hampshire and South Dakota delegations, for instance, where primaries already have been held, a much tougher decision for states with primaries just days away, like Maryland, where Alison Beard was state delegation chairman.

ALISON BEARD, Chairman, Maryland Delegation: It was pretty much go all the way until, I don't know, I guess two months ago, and then we started getting really nervous, and furiously phone-calling everyone.

MR. HOLMAN: On Friday, one day before she had to cast the votes for her delegation, Alison Beard was anticipating chaos on the convention floor.

ALISON BEARD: We're assuming almost that there's going to be a brokered convention, the race has been so close so far.

MR. HOLMAN: Freshman Jon Hughes, the Vermont state chairman, alsohad some last minute doubts and called his delegation together to work them out.

JON HUGHES, Chairman, Vermont Delegation: The "Burlington Free Press" guy said he thinks it's going to be Dole and Alexander, with Lugar as the surprise, pulling up the rear. So-- [laughter]

CHRIS BONDS, Research Chairman, Vermont Delegation: It's been rough for the last couple of days and he's going to keep staying there and keep campaigning real hard there. He's decided he's going to go visit some other states, but he's going to sleep in Vermont till after the vote, because the Lugar campaign has pretty much decided that Vermont may be the only state they have a chance at winning, so--

JON HUGHES: I see Lugar as being a perfectly plausible candidate.

MR. HOLMAN: With Vermont's primary also just days away, the pressure to predict a winner was increasing.

JON HUGHES: We were supposed to give an idea of how we were going to vote two days ago.

PERSON IN GROUP: What did we say?

JON HUGHES: And I told 'em, I said, Dole's the easy thing to say, and that's what I'm going to say right now, but that's not necessarily what's going to come out of my mouth at the convention.

CHRIS MacNAUGHTON ON PHONE: Is Mr. Lee Bandy in, please?

MR. HOLMAN: But most of the pressure fell on Christ MacNaughton, a Washington and Lee senior and chairman of the South Carolina delegation.

CHRIS MacNAUGHTON, Chairman, South Carolina Delegation: [on phone] Yes. That's exactly what I'm thinking. I could flip a coin. All right.

MR. HOLMAN: The South Carolina primary was Saturday, decision day at the mock convention. Chris MacNaughton knew that once he cast the votes for his delegation the voters back home would prove him right or wrong within hours.

CHRIS MacNAUGHTON: It's a little bit added pressure, because we'll know that night. If we guess wrong, then later that night we'll find out that we were wrong. But I think it's also a lot of pressure because a lot of other states are looking toward South Carolina to find out who they're going to nominate. They're waiting. If we tell them we're definitely going for Dole for a big majority, then they're going to also go that way also, whereas, we could switch it up, and that's when other states are really looking to us to find out what they're going to do.

MR. HOLMAN: On Saturday, decision day, student delegates, their parents, and alumni lined up early to attend the final session of the mock convention. One last rousing reception was reserved for the keynote speaker, House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

REP. NEWT GINGRICH, Speaker of the House: While amateurs are watching South Carolina today, sophisticated folks are watching you to find out what's going to happen.

MR. HOLMAN: When Gingrich finished, the convention moved on to the business of selecting the Republican nominee for President. But by then, a consensus had formed. There would be no brokered convention. The state delegations were confident.

CHRIS MacNAUGHTON: I called a few of contacts, a few reporters, and made sure nothing has really changed big. Dole's still leading strong in the polls, and we're going with him.

ALISON BEARD: Basically I just talked to Chris MacNaughton, who's South Carolina's state chairman, and he told me that they think they're going Dole, so I'm pretty firm with my delegate selection. I think I'm going to still give one to Pat Buchanan, though.

JON HUGHES: Winner take all, all 12 for the first two ballots are going for Dole.

ALISON BEARD: The great state of Maryland, one of the only states that can claim to be both Yankee and Confederate, gives three votes to Pat Buchanan and the remaining twenty-nine votes to the next President of the United States, Sen. Bob Dole! [cheering in crowd]

MR. HOLMAN: Sen. Bob Dole captured all or the majority of delegates in nearly every state, including, of course, his home state of--

KANSAS DELEGATE: Kansas gives all 31 of its delegates to its native son, who will take this party on to defeat Bill Clinton and into the next century. I give you Bob Dole!

MR. HOLMAN: Dole secured the nomination on the first ballot, with Pat Buchanan, Steve Forbes, and Lamar Alexander finishing far behind.

SEN. ROBERT DOLE, Republican Presidential Candidate: [on phone] Okay. Well, thanks very much, and I accept the nomination. I appreciate it very much.

STUDENTS CHEERING

MR. HOLMAN: And as for the student delegates:

ALISON BEARD: No one could imagine what it would actually be like until we came here, and it's just--it's so realistic and such an honor to be a part of it, and it only comes once every four years, we're all just very honored and excited. It's been a great experience.

CHRIS MacNAUGHTON: I agree, definitely. It's been a great experience. We've all put a lot of hard work into it. I think we've all just really learned a lot more about the political process.

JON HUGHES: The atmosphere here was, I imagine, was just like at the convention, that much excitement, made me work harder. It was a lot of work. I really enjoyed it, and it gets me interested in politics. I mean, I loved it.

MR. LEHRER: Now, how Campaign '96 is playing out on other college campuses. Margaret Warner has that story.

MS. WARNER: We're joined now by six college newspaper editors: Patrick Strawbridge, a junior at the University of Missouri; Bill Lara, senior at Dade Community College in Miami; Jeanette Bennett, a senior at Brigham Young University In Utah; Ronald Eyester, a senior at the Citadel Military College of South Carolina; Jeremy Hendrickson, a freshman at California's Community College of the Sequoias; and Monica Lewis, a senior at Howard University here in Washington. Welcome, all of you. Jeanette, how does this Republican primary race look to you and your fellow students at BYU?

JEANETTE BENNETT, Brigham Young University: Well, I think there's a lot of interest in it but maybe not a lot of excitement. Most students at BYU would say that they're Republicans, but there really isn't a favorite. There's no one that they really want to throw their trust and their support behind at this point.

MS. WARNER: And why is that?

JEANETTE BENNETT: Well, I don't know. I think that there just, there really isn't a good candidate. I think Dole isn't what students want to represent them. Buchanan is perhaps too extreme, and Forbes and Alexander aren't viable candidates at this point either; they're too far behind. So I think many students, although they'd say they're Republicans, are giving unenthusiastic support for Clinton.

MS. WARNER: Pat, are you seeing the same thing at the University of Missouri?

PATRICK STRAWBRIDGE, University of Missouri: I definitely. They may be a little bit more liberal than the BYU campus, and I'd say the people are less excited about the Republican primaries at Missouri, or everyone who likes Bill Clinton, because they see the Republicans failing to put forth a leader who's really bringing a strong mandate or gathering a lot of support, and they really just think the Clintons almost got it wrapped up at this point.

MS. WARNER: Ron Eyester, you just had the South Carolina primary right in your backyard. Was therethe same lack of excitement on campus that your colleagues here think?

RONALD EYESTER, The Citadel: I think the primary which just occurred last Saturday sparked a lot of excitement, and the Citadel's a pretty conservative campus, and with the election coming up, they recognize the need for a pretty drastic change in office, I think, and there is a lot of excitement with Buchanan, but I think Dole has made his presence felt. He was backed by, you know, some pretty strong powerful people in South Carolina like Carroll Campbell and David Beasley and so I think that most of the people in South Carolina are, you know, looking towards Dole, and I can, I think, safely speak for a lot of cadets who are, you know, going towards that pretty much conservative side with Dole.

MS. WARNER: Jeremy, how about you out at the Community College of the Sequoias, how does, are you seeing this sort of feeling that there aren't any good candidates out there, or are you sensing what Ron senses at the Citadel?

JEREMY HENDRICKSON, College of the Sequoias: Well, I think right no we're seeing four candidates who are lacking a lot of passion as far as what we can view. I think our, our feeling is that we're passionate only about being elected President, and, I mean, we want someone to come in there and just, and just, you know, a revolutionary, someone that's a reformer, wants to just do an overhaul on America, you know, and our area's mostly conservative, but we desire to see someone in there that would like to completely overturn, you know, things and income and do a lot of reform.

MS. WARNER: Monica, what do you sense on your campus, what students are looking for?

MONICA LEWIS, Howard University: Mostly I think we're looking for people or a candidate who has our best interest at heart. Howard is a liberal university as opposed to the Citadel and the other conservative institutions, and, umm, you know, with the way that Congress and the appropriations that we're trying to get are the ones that are possibly on the verge of being cut, I think that we want a candidate who has--who is thinking more along our lines and looking for our university and for our, our race, our, you know, sex, whatever, to prosper in the coming century.

MS. WARNER: And Bill Lara, what about you, what do you sense on your campus? Is this Republican primary speaking to you and your fellow students?

BILL LARA, Miami Dade Community College: In a limited way. I think most of my fellow students would ask where is the "none of the above" button when they get to the ballot, but, again, I agree with what's been said at the table, that most of these candidates don't have the ability to empathize with this market, with this particular strand, college students, they just don't, don't sound perfect. There's a little bit off in every candidate.

MS. WARNER: But what would you like--describe the ideal candidate to me. What would he or she be saying and doing and acting?

BILL LARA: Dynamic, pro-education, looking to save as much of the budget for that purpose as possible, downsizing government, looking for term, shorter terms in Congress, perhaps in government as a whole, umm, and basically looking not just as the easy stuff to cut out.

MS. WARNER: Pat, what do you--what do you think students are looking for in an ideal candidate, someone who would galvanize campuses?

PATRICK STRAWBRIDGE: Umm, if you're talking about the Republican side, I think, what would have played a lot better at least with the college crowd would have been a moderate candidate, I mean, a younger, moderate candidate who's kind of a Republican Bill Clinton, if you will. When Bill Clinton went through in '92, he was a young candidate. He spoke very clearly to the heart of a lot of issues of benefit to college students, college loans, umm, I mean, he was, he was a very, very--he was a candidate that a lot of college students could look up to, and, umm, there's just nothing like that. You've got three guys who all worked in the Nixon White House, which, you know, most of the kids in college these days weren't even alive when Nixon was in the White House. Umm, and you got Steve Forbes, who's a millionaire. I'm pretty sure almost everyone I know doesn't relate to him very well, so--

MS. WARNER: But, Jeanette, you said your campus is very Republican at BYU. What do you think it would take to galvanize, electrify young Republicans and independents on your campus?

JEANETTE BENNETT: Well, I think Dole's views on things are on target, but his personality isn't really engaging. He doesn't have the leadership skills that students our age look for. He's not exciting to listen to, and unfortunately, that's what's needed in a President. You know, that may seem shallow, but we need a leader who can be optimistic and exciting and get us excited about the future as young Americans.

MS. WARNER: Do you agree with that, Ron?

RONALD EYESTER: Yeah. I agree totally with that, and I think that Bob Dole represents a lot of great issues, and history gives him a cornerstone to getting back to the values of America are great, but, umm, when you look at Pat Buchanan, I think that he has a great charisma. I mean, he knows how to speak to a crowd and reach out to them. But unfortunately, I think some of his issues and his ideals are so extreme that we don't feel secure with him, but, again, I mean, I'll re-emphasize the fact when he speaks, I mean, he does have a passion, I think, and although he does want to make a change, I think that--I think Dole offers a good building block to the future of America. He might not be the person to have great reform, but I think he's going to offer a good building block to future reform, maybe with our generation being involved with politics.

MS. WARNER: What's your sense of Dole and--do you agree with this critique, right issues, wrong persona?

JEREMY HENDRICKSON: Well--

MS. WARNER: From the Republican perspective.

JEREMY HENDRICKSON: --right--for the most part, the issues are, are pretty well sound. I don't know, I think personally I agree more with Buchanan on a few issues than I do with Dole, but overall, I do agree that we need somewhere to start from, and Dole is a good starting stone, maybe a building block like he was saying, umm. I don't know. I think people are looking right now to the character of the person and really to--we need a dynamic leader.

MS. WARNER: Are you all talking more about style than substance?

BILL LARA: We see what we can see and that is whatever brief time we get on television from this candidate or whatever exposition we get to him is not really in depth, so we have to go with what we have. In most cases, unfortunately as it may be, it has to do with how the, the candidate relates or how we relate to the person on the screen.

MS. WARNER: Monica, where do you think that most students, if we can generalize, where do you think their views come from? I mean, are they rebelling against their parents, or are they very close to their parents' views?

MONICA LEWIS: Well, I think it depends on--you have to break it down to parties, and just the generation we grew up in where it was kind of like the "me" generation, where you were out to get what you could get and what was best for you, and your parents felt that the Democratic Party was best for you, and you kind of went along with that, and, you know, the same goes for Republicans. Personally speaking, I think that I'm just looking at what has been done during my lifetime. I grew up with like, we all grew up in a Republican era, and it wasn't until most us hit college where the Democrats took off, took over, basically, so whatever the Democratic Party has done in the four years that they have been in control I've kind of been in favor of that, and I really didn't like the way things were in the early '80s.

MS. WARNER: Ron, compare your own views with those of your parents briefly. I mean, how much are yours separate from them?

RONALD EYESTER: Well, I think, maybe in terms of my parents and maybe all our parents, I mean, I can't speak for everybody's, but I think my parents seem to emphasize on economic issues. You know, it's kind of like the struggle to survive, or the struggle to succeed, and, umm, when I--when I'm looking towards a President now, I think I'm trying to emphasize on the social issues. I mean, to be honest, personally I feel like the economy is so complex I feel like I can't understand it half the time, but the social issues are more at home with me, and I think, you know, I can comprehend certain things, and, you know, I feel like it affects humanity more than--

MS. WARNER: Name a couple of social issues, meaning what?

RONALD EYESTER: Well, just like abortion. I mean, that's a really important issue that this election can't overlook, and just, umm, treatment of the middle class, umm, Medicaid, Medicare, I mean, these are all important issues that I think we need to really listen to, because, you know, they're going to affect our generation now and in years to come.

MS. WARNER: Umm, Pat, talk to that point about, uh, college students and their views and how they compare to their parents.

PATRICK STRAWBRIDGE: Umm, I, I think--I mean, most students I know fall somewhere in the middle in the political spectrum, they don't identify very clearly with one side or the other. So I think this would have been a great year for a moderate Republican candidate to have had a shot at Clinton, you know, personally I support Bill Clinton, so, I, I'm thanking my lucky stars every day that Jack Kemp or Colin Powell or one of those conservative Republicans decided to stay out of the race. I don't think it's unusual that you're seeing, umm, more people looking at social issues and why Pat Buchanan, who speaks a lot to social issues, umm, is getting a lot of attention early on, because to be honest, the economy is doing pretty well right now. It's on the road to the recovery. It's not the focus of the election anymore. There's a new drum to bang on.

MS. WARNER: Jeanette, where do you stand on what issues are being raised in this Republican primary? Do you feel that issues that are important to you, either in the short, medium, or long-term, are really--are being addressed?

JEANETTE BENNETT: One issue that is getting a little bit of attention but I think we should get more of, family values. I think that that's the core of a lot of problems, social and economic in our country, and I don't think that there's been a candidate who's really hit that on the head and used that as a platform. And I think a lot of people, especially where I come from, are interested in family values. That's one topic I'd like to hear more about.

RONALD EYESTER: Oh, I just wanted to add that I know watching the debate in South Carolina the other day. I mean, they counted on it to do anything but addressing the issues. I mean, it was just a mud-slinging festival and I mean, how can we be asked to address some of the issues when these candidates really can't even address the issues and speak to us about 'em, umm. That's what we really need to look towards is them taking a little more mature approach and, I mean, seeing all these negative ads run. I mean, we talk about financial problems. Well, if Steve Forbes was one to be so generous, he could donate half the money he's put into these negative ads and rectify some of the problems we're having as a society.

JEANETTE BENNETT: I think the media in general is a little bit at fault for not getting us involved in the issues. Most of the coverage is very horse race. It's more like a sports race. You find out who's ahead, who's behind, who gained how many points, and instead of really addressing the issues and looking into the candidates, and so the coverage that we're getting, that's all we know, is just who is ahead, who is behind, instead of really getting in there.

MS. WARNER: And are you all covering the national race in your newspapers?

STUDENTS: Yes.

MS. WARNER: For what, the wires?

RONALD EYESTER: I think Jeanette's right about that. I mean, you know, talking about, we're seeing all the percentages, how Dole's winning over Buchanan, but we're not seeing why he's winning. You know, we're not getting a clear indication of why he's winning and what, you know, these voters and citizens of our country are thinking towards the election, and I think that's something the media should address on is why they're winning, not just why, how many percentages, and who's, you know, because they're getting blasted out of the water, umm, you know, they're going to have to pull out of the race. I mean, if someone's going to pull out of the race, then let's not emphasize that anymore. Let's go towards, you know, why Dole's pulling ahead, and, you know, what's the cause of that.

MS. WARNER: What the issues are.

PATRICK STRAWBRIDGE: I think that's a typical criticism of the media during any election, is that they only cover the horse race, but it's also, I think some fault lies with the candidates. I mean, the candidates--this isn't the time for issues in an election, this is the time for politics; this is the time to put themselves on top, and then they can start addressing the issues once the convention has been deciding there's a clear candidate. That's when it's time to start debating Bill Clinton, but I mean, it's a horse race, and there's really no way of looking around that. Maybe it shouldn't be; maybe that's not perfect, but that's the way it is.

MS. WARNER: But, I mean, if you really wanted to know about the issues these candidates believe them, that information is available, and how much do you think the students and voters share the responsibility?

JEREMY HENDRICKSON: I think, I think you share a lot. If you're going to take yourself to the polls and vote, which I think everyone should, you need to be informed, and it's, you know, it's only in this era now that we've had, you know, the advantage of having the media, and, umm, you know, in the past, people had to find out their own information, and we need to be students really of the election and what's going on.

MS. WARNER: Do you all sense that in your readership there's an active interest, or is it more apathetic? Jeanette.

JEANETTE BENNETT: There's an interest and not an excitement, like I said earlier. I don't think it's apathy. People are interested, and we cover it almost every day if we have a story about it, but I don't think there's this great excitement about this being an election year.

MS. WARNER: Well, thank you all very much. We'll have to leave it there, see you again. RECAP

MR. LEHRER: Again, the major stories of this Tuesday, President Clinton dispatched bomb detectors and anti-terrorism experts to Israel to help intercept suicide bombers. The Israeli government rejected a truce offer from Hamas as troops sealed the homes of 10 suspected Hamas members. On the NewsHour tonight, Sec. of State Christopher said he told Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat his future was at stake if he could not control militant groups like Hamas. And the Senate voted to impose more sanctions on Cuba 10 days after Cuban jets shot down two U.S. civilian planes. Finally, before we go, a way to remember Minnie Pearl, the country music comedienne who died last night. Here are some moments from her career at the Grand Ol' Opry and on Television.

MINNIE PEARL: Howdy!

AUDIENCE SHOUTING BACK: Howdy!

MINNIE PEARL: I'm just so proud to be here.

MINNIE PEARL: I know what it is to be hurt. It may not show, but love has kicked me in the face.

MAN: It shows all right. [audience laughing]

MINNIE PEARL: Now, I made it myself.

MAN: Oh, look to here, whee!

MINNIE PEARL: I don't aim to brag, but there's two things that I sure can make, and one of 'em is potato salad and the other one is coconut pie.

MAN: Yeah, yeah. Which one's this? [audience laughing]

MINNIE PEARL SINGING: I'm just as jealous as I can be. [applause]

MR. LEHRER: Minnie Pearl was 83 years old. We'll see you tomorrow night with Shields & Gigot analysis of tonight's primary's results, among other things. I'm Jim Lehrer. Thank you and good night.