Happens is noticed. Almost every single occurrence in the world has a repercussion in washington. As a correspondent, with the eyes on the foreign leaders, you were forewarn your readers to things that are important because they are the product of a singular phenomenon in their respective countries, then you are doing a good service. Good morning, operator, i have a collect call to rome italy, 65041, direct to the switch board from mr. Demedici. Reporter i dont think theres a country in the world with so much obsessed information than the United States because it is a matter in the government to try and respond to legitimate press queries as much as possible. Speaking Foreign Language ]. Reporter in washington, something is happening all the time. Technology, art. Individual achievement, politics. All of these things attract my attention because its one way or the other. They have a relationship with the italy. And with the taitalian readers. His name is marino de medici. Hes one of 11 Foreign Correspondents working in the United States. Hes covered rome. Hes interviewed and written about some of the most important people and events of our time. Vice president will have a brief opening statement. I would ask the subject matter of this press conference be limited to the trip and it will run approximately half an hour. Ive just completed a meeting with the president which lasted about an hour and a half, in which i briefed him. Reporter on this particular morning in february, marino de medici attends a press Conference Held by Vice President mondale. I believe the trip was a success. Set in motion a concept that will allow our nations to deal with greater successfulness, and success and well being of each of our peoples, the health of our economies and common goal to increase the prospects for a more Stable International invite. Mr. Vice president , both the germans and i be the french reporter in this room are correspondents from most of the worlds leading tv and radio networks. We can control this concept of control. Mr. Vice president , what impression did you bring back from italy . Not only on the Economic Situation there but on the shortrange perspective of european communist . Reporter they ask question and report the impact on their words and their readers. We didnt talk about that. Do you feel that can be done in the United States . That was one. Reporter for this single Foreign Correspondent, as for many others in his profession, the american journalist presented a challenge for the life of government as well as the national campaign. Such a period provides the best look at the life of a foreign journalist whose assignment is washington. Many people tend to think of us as washington correspondents. But in reality, we are u. S. Correspondents, during the campaign i traveled a great deal between washington and various parts of the country, following the political candidates. Because you must be out there if anything happens. How does this compare to the whistle stops before . You know, in the old day, the whistle stops were a novelty. You had people lined up, especially in 48 when truman made his stops. Even during the later years, Lyndon Johnson went south as the train was called the corn special. I know many highnotch correspondents, we have worked on stories together so we know each other very well. Some are conservatives, some are liberal, some are in the middle. But we have deep respect for one another. I dont know, all president ial candidates seem to have to take one. Reporter you have to change a lot of material and ideas and judgments as a correspondent. It allows you to qualify your judgment by claiomparing information with someone else who knows a little bit more about a particular subject. Just have toe no, no. The exchange of views is very useful. Youre getting a feel of the country and where its going. And this adds something to your insight. To your judgment. To be weighed and eventually you would be reporting. The president of the United States jimmy carter [ applause ] harry truman, john kerry and Lyndon Johnson. Reporter when you go out for president or even challenger of opposing party, you are trying to find out what impact it has on the people. Not on the press, not the way he looks on television. His attitude, his face is quite different than the whenever youre used to when questioning in a press conference. Something else is visible that is not ordinarily associated with the man. Because you see what the man is like in different circumstances. Perhaps under stress. And then you see what the reaction of real people is to the leaders. And to the possible leaders of the country. Youre running for president , room 104 how many students in room 104 . 32. 32, are you democrat or republican . You have that on your sign, dont you . Reporter anybody who can write a story about American Society without touching reality, without talking to people, without getting a personal feel for it, i think runs risk of writing something which is not true. Runs a risk of being out of touch. You have been involved. I came to the United States at a time which of historic significance, that is the kennedy administration. I was sent to washington, originally, as a correspondent of a news agency, the Italian Press association. Many foreign importants actually started as news agency men. It goes very useful for us, because for a music agency work we learn discipline and speed. You have to cover conference, write and act very fast, under great pressure, against a deadline. So, youre under the gun, most of the time. When i go to the office, i may want to write an article about the catholics in america. Or even i may want to do a controversial piece over the problem of abortion. Now, these are think piece which is require research and they take a good deal of time. They are difficult subjects that you have to investigate with a great deal of deliberation. But then something, somewhere happens. Whether an Economic Development or a sudden crisis concerning the country, its relationship to the United States. I chose the ones which are important in terms of my country. Its the unexpected that breaks all the time that keeps us working. I talk to rome every day to find out how much space they can devote to american news. And also to get a sense of what their interests are. Ciao. By talking to my colleagues in rome, i get an idea of which stories attract significance in italian terms. [ speaking Foreign Language ] i have to go what goes on because im reporting for italians. So, i have to keep in mind their interests, their expectations, their feelings. [ speaking Foreign Language ] youre important to many people you that dont know personally. Youre in between a world of happenings and a world of listeners. You are a filter for these people. You are like a prism. You rotate and the light is refra refracted. And these people get immediate joy and they rely on you. You can be very good to be a correspondent, but if you dont find a way to communicate in habits that theyll understand, then youre wasting your time. Antonio, how are you . If the president or secretary of state is holding a press conference in california or somewhere else, and i did not attend, then i go to the Foreign Press center. And they broadcast the speech or press conference. So i dont have to be there when it happens and this is for all of us. Its very useful. Foreign policy can be made at the white house. I have said before that the negotiation is an extremely complicated one. In the Foreign Correspondent center i find myself in journalists from tufts, the french news agency, the french or Japanese Tv Network or a major israeli newspaper. Foreign policy today goes straight into the homes of people. They are affected by foreign policy. Inflation can be due to foreign development. The life of a farmer back in the middle west is determined by large extent by sales of american grains overseas. The job of a shoe factory employee may determine a competition for foreign countries. Because thats a story that touches me because a lot of the shoes imported in the u. S. Are italian made. The president ial campaign was like a marathon race. You had to keep up with the group, and the group took you everywhere. By air, by train, even by boat. When i was covering the election story, i went down the mississippi in a river boat with president ford. Perhaps the biggest freedom we have, as Foreign Correspondents, is freedom of movement. We can go anywhere we want. Ive even been in the underground headquarters strate air command in omaha, nebraska, with president johnson. You get a strong feeling of the country by meeting people in different states. On the campaign trip, i saw posters protesting against the billion congress which would have eliminated private inspections of grains from the u. S. To foreign countries. Had the bill passed, these people would have lost their jobs. So they had an interest in getting a compromise on a bill which would have maintained the certain measure of private inspections and preserved the jobs at a shipment point in louisiana. How are you . So good to see you. How are you . Its nice to see you. Nice to see you. What do you think of the Italian American community . Been a good reception, yesterday . And the market, it was superb. Thank you. We appreciate it very much. How are you . The life of a Foreign Correspondent is almost a 24hour job. Every day you have a lot of things happening that are worthwhile. A political story, an economic story, even a serious story with a funny side to it. There are state visits, exhibitions, you are absorbing information. Youre getting vibrations on how people think. It opened two years ago in october of 74. He was from latvia. How did he make his fortune . Well, he came over once you get the idea to do a story about a certain facet of american life, you go out learning as much as you can about the subject. Once you find the story, you still have to develop it. He dealt a lot in stocks and bonds. Started collecting before the certainly before the second world war. In 1951, he if i enjoy doing something, if i enjoy writing something, i know that my reader will enjoy reading it. Uranium, what about that . The uranium which gave power to the atomic era exactly. The u. S. State department is a very important source for any Foreign Correspondent. I had a couple of questions in my mind on the International Economy and i wanted to get your feeling on them. First of all, do you see perhaps there will be some tightening of credits to European Countries sort of you have to go out to get the ground assessments, to make personal judgments. Government people are not afraid of talking freely, as long as they trust the newspaperman. What feeling do you get about it . I think that we will favor applications by those countries of europe, including italy i think it is important to maintain regular contacts with your sources. Your source will be responsive even if you touch base only on the occasions that you need the source. But if you develop a personal relationship by which you keep in touch from time to time, when you need a quick response, you will be better off. In terms of inflation, where would you say the best chances lie for reducing the rate of inflation in england or italy . Well, structural problems in both countries are different. As a journalist, you have an obligation not to become stale. You cant sit and relax even if experience tells you a great deal about how a certain story is developing. You have to try to tell stories which are breaking out there and there are plenty of interesting stories to cover. For instance, take the space program. Something new is always happening. So you try to keep in touch with developments with the advance of technology. How many generations of technology are in this room . In effect, just one generation starting with the early 1940s. Of course we start with the germany antiaircraft missiles thats the one of the you have to relate to your readers on the basis of things that they cant understand. You have to tell them whats happening, why its happening, and what may happen to them because of that event. Show the technology that Ballistic Missiles gave us in propulsion and guidance to be able to put these other satellites and space vehicles into space. I hope next time you take representatives up are you volunteering . Yeah, i would love to go. All of us have covered the space launchings, but there are other stories about space, for instance, we have a story about italians who are very actively engaged in space exploration. At the Space Flight Center near washington, i like to talk to Italian Space experts who are working on a joint satellite program. This is an interesting story for italy and my readers. Its much more important to be in touch with people than to sit in the office. The only way to cover a story is to go out there where the story is happening. [ speaking Foreign Language ] the campaign was gathering momentum, the candidates were very, very close and very joined to campaign. Its a great pleasure to be back in new york and new jersey. The good working relationship between the president and the government is i think fundamental. If you establish a good working relationship with a government leader or a congressional leader, or a Congressional Staff member, if you get to know them well and they get to know you well, you can talk about almost anything. At the beginning during the primaries and the people got the Italian Americans are a very Important Group in the United States. I have a special attachment to the Italian American members of congress. On the strength of similar relationships, i have an excellent line of communication to the congress. If you vote for me in november, well get our country moving once again. [ cheers and applause ] i see youll be working hard on the Italian American vote. I enjoyed the banquet the other night. I think so, sure. Is it going to be close . I think so. I dont think it would be wise to take anything for granted. Its going to be a hard one. I look forward to it. Are as important on this trip as they are [ speaking Foreign Language ] we file our stories from the campaign trail to the cities where our papers are published, rome, london, moscow, and hundreds of other cities that are closely watching the american elections. We file our stories describing and interpreting events and we follow two rules, be sure to get a story to your paper on time, and the second one is, get a good story to your paper. [ speaking Foreign Language ] social life in washington is very important because it allows you to develop friendships with people with whom you have a professional relationship. Do you think it is acquaintances become friendships and friendships become good contacts. You have to expose yourself to several layers of opinion and the best way to do it is at lunch or dinner or even at cocktail parties. The temptation of voting against a trend really counts at the last moment in an election. Really voting for the underdog, for the fellow who appears to lose. The trend is politics is part of everything that goes on in washington. The city talks lives and breathes politics, from the moment he wakes up, until the moment me goes to bed. Sometimes he goes to bed very late. The campaign and the election are over, but in washington, in the United States, plenty of things are always happening. For us, its instant history. But then it is history. Your watching American History tv. Every weekend on cspan3, explore our nations past. Cspan3, created by americas Cable Television companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. In 1976, president gerald ford debated his detectimocrati opponent jimmy carter in what was the first president ial debate since 1960. It focused on domestic issues. Because of a technical problem with the audio, there was a 28minute delay in the middle of the debate. Good evening. Im edwin newman, moderator of this first debate of the 1976 campaign between gerald r. Ford of michigan, republican candidate for president , and jimmy carter of georgia, democratic candidate for president. We thank you, president ford, and we thank you, governor carter, for being with us tonight. There are to be three debates between the president ial candidates and one between the Vice President ial candidates. All are being arranged by the league of women voters education fund