In a brief item on the Friday's CBS Evening News, Katie Couric asserted: “At the top of tonight's news briefing, a who's who of President Bush's adversaries on the world stage all together in one place. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are among the leaders in Havana for the meeting of the non-aligned nations. Raul Castro is playing host. His older brother, Fidel, is still recovering from intestinal surgery.”
ABC and NBC, however, realized those leaders and others gathered, for the summit in Havana of the “Non-Aligned Movement,” are enemies of the United States, not just the current occupant of the Oval Office. Fill-in ABC anchor Kate Snow referred to how the organization “regularly takes anti-American stances and today was no exception” and reporter Jim Avila, in Cuba, relayed how “America's short list of antagonists” were “all bashing the United States for opposing Iran's nuclear program, all of them together in Cuba, capital of anti-Americanism.” NBC's Brian Williams, anchoring from Havana, described the summit of non-aligned nations as “all of the enemies of the United States, really, gathered in one room.”
The full transcript of Couric's full item is above. A bit more of how the September 15 ABC and NBC newscasts described the conclave:
ABC's World News with Charles Gibson:
Anchor Kate Snow: “Now to Cuba, where Fidel Castro's government took over the leadership of the so-called nonaligned nations today, the organization regularly takes anti-American stances and today was no exception. But conspicuously absent from the limelight and the ranting was Fidel Castro. ABC's Jim Avila is in Havana.”
Avila began, from Cuba: “America's short list of antagonists -- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinajad, and Bolivia's Evo Morales -- all bashing the United States for opposing Iran's nuclear program, all of them together in Cuba, capital of anti-Americanism...”
NBC Nightly News
:
Brian Williams opened: “Good evening from Havana, Cuba, the host city for what is called the summit of non-aligned nations. In short, all of the enemies of the United States, really, gathered in one room. Their host happens to be the longest serving ruler of any nation on earth. Fidel Castro has outlasted nine U.S. Presidents. And while he is currently hospitalized, sitting out this conference after transferring power her to his brother Raul, this is still very much every bit Castro's Cuba...”
