(20 Jun 2007)
Pool
1. Wide shot New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at press conference
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael Bloomberg, New York City Mayor:
"I think they're wasting their time. I'm not a candidate so... they should get down to polling on people who are candidates and we've got a lot of them in this country. We even have two people from New York who are candidates for president of the United States. I'm not sure the state needs a third."
3. Medium shot Bloomberg at press conference
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael Bloomberg, New York City Mayor:
"We're a country that pays people to die early. We spend 50 percent more than Western Europe does on health care and live four years less, it's one of the great wastes of money. Nobody is willing to talk about those things and I think that that's exactly what the candidates should do. We have roughly ten Republican and ten Democratic candidates and I think that's what they should address and I'm going to speak out on those issues, and by not being affiliated with a party I think I'm going to have a better opportunity to do that."
AP Television
5. Tight shot of Daily News newspaper cover on news stand
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Annett Marrie Barrette, New Yorker:
"I think he has the right to change. I think it gives people options and choices and people now have another choice to think about who they want to vote for and what party they want to be aligned to, and it probably would become more (about) issues rather than a commitment to a particular party."
7. Tight shot headline of New York Times newspaper
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Moishe Blumenthal, New Yorker:
"I think he's just testing the waters. He's seeing if he could get some support nationwide, and if he feels the support I think he'll go for it. Right now he's just testing the waters. That's what I think."
9. Tight shot of man grabbing New York Times from news stand
STORYLINE:
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a news conference on Wednesday, at which he fielded questions on about whether his recent defection from the Republican Party means that he is intending to run as an independent candidate in the 2008 presidential election.
After some six years as a Republican, the 65-year-old former CEO announced on Tuesday that he had left the Republican Party and become unaffiliated, in what many believe could be a step towards entering the 2008 race for president.
Bloomberg however denied that he was planning to run for president.
"I think they're wasting their time,'' Bloomberg said in response to a question about what he thought of being included as a candidate in some presidential polls.
''I'm not a candidate so.... they should get down to polling on people who are candidates and we've got a lot of them in this country,'' he added.
A Quinnipiac University poll, conducted last week and released on Wednesday, found that among New York state voters, Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton led at 43 percent, followed by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani at 29 percent, and Bloomberg at 16 percent.
The poll found Bloomberg pulling votes about equally from Clinton and Giuliani.
Rumours of a presidential bid have been fuelled by Bloomberg's increasing trips out of the state, a greater focus on national issues, and repeated criticism of the way the country is run by partisan politics.
But Bloomberg still insists he will leave public office at the end of his term in 2009.
On Wednesday, he offered opinions on gun control, public education, immigration, Iran and several other topics that have also come up in the presidential campaign, including health care.
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