August 4, 2000 – The CBS World News Roundup Late Edition – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
August 4, 2000 – an election year, and the campaigns were off and running while the polls were tripping over each other to declare a frontrunner. With a boost of convention momentum and poll numbers, Bush and Cheney kicked off their official campaign the old fashioned way, with a whistle-stop tour through Democratic territory of Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. According to sources, crowds haven’t been huge, but they’ve been lively. Bush was telling reporters that he was keeping up his attacks on the Clinton-Gore years, hoping to fuel doubts among traditional Democratic voters – and adding “give me a chance” to all who would listen.
Gore, for his part was in Chicago addressing a convention of Firefighters, continuing to hammer on the recession years brought on by the Reagan regime of which Bush was an echo. All in all, the campaign was rolling ahead for both teams and November was getting closer, as was the race.
Meanwhile, the investigation over the Concorde crash the previous month hit on a disturbing theory that the doomed jet may have hit a piece of debris on the runway during takeoff. A one-and-a-half foot strip of metal which did not come from the Concorde was identified among the debris found on the runway. That almost certainly meant it was there as the plane sped towards takeoff. The Accident Investigation Bureau said that part of the tire debris found on the runway showed a large gash, which could have been caused by a sharp metal object. The Airport authorities said the runway was checked just a few hours before the doomed Concorde took off, but it was also used by other flights.
In other Airline news – a stowaway in the wheel well of an Air France Jumbo Jet flight from Tahiti to Los Angeles, miraculously survived the 8 hour journey across the Pacific, withstanding temperatures as low as 50 below zero. Doctors at UCLA Medical Center said the unidentified man withstood extreme hypothermia and lack of oxygen from flying at an altitude of 38,000 feet. When he was discovered, he had a body temperature of 79 degrees. Anything under 85 was normally considered fatal.
And that’s just a small slice of news for this August 4, 2000 from The CBS World News Roundup, Late Edition.
