World News Tonight (ABC) - 1993-04-10
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] For Channel 2 News at 5.
[0:04] >> From ABC, this is World News Saturday.
[0:08] Here's Jed Roe.
[0:10] >> Good evening. The case against four Los
[0:12] Angeles police officers charged in the
[0:14] Rodney King beating is now in the hands
[0:16] of the jury. The officers have been
[0:18] acquitted once when they were facing
[0:19] state criminal charges. This jury will
[0:21] have to decide whether the officers
[0:23] violated King's federal civil rights.
[0:25] Here's ABC's Judy Muller.
[0:28] >> Defense attorney Harland Braun in an
[0:29] Easter weekend closing argument compared
[0:32] the trial of the four officers to the
[0:33] trial of Jesus Christ. Braun, who
[0:36] represents Ted Briseno, quoted Pontius
[0:38] Pilate asking, "What evil has this man
[0:41] done?" Braun noted that Pilate condemned
[0:43] Jesus because he feared riots in the
[0:45] city and he asked the jury to have the
[0:47] courage to stand up to the howl of the
[0:49] mob and acquit all four defendants. The
[0:52] defense attorney blasted the
[0:53] government's case as preposterous and
[0:55] malicious adding that if the prosecutor
[0:57] had been around in the days of Jesus, he
[0:59] would have indicted the apostles.
[1:01] Braun reminded the jury that the
[1:02] prosecution had praised his client for
[1:04] trying to stop the beating but then
[1:06] turned around and condemned him for
[1:08] applying his boot to King's back. "How
[1:10] can a man go from hero to coward in less
[1:13] than a minute?" asked Braun.
[1:15] Braun said Briseno now realizes that his
[1:17] perception of what was happening that
[1:18] night was skewed by his point of view
[1:20] which differed from that of the other
[1:22] officers.
[1:23] "Each man acted on his own perception,"
[1:25] said Braun, "and none of those
[1:26] perceptions had to do with punishing
[1:28] King but rather with bringing him under
[1:30] control."
[1:31] In the government's rebuttal, prosecutor
[1:33] Barry Kowalski said the defense
[1:35] attorneys were attacking the government
[1:37] because they were unable to attack the
[1:38] facts and evidence. Kowalski said the
[1:40] officers were bullies with badges who
[1:43] beat and kicked a man who was down and
[1:45] beaten until he begged for them to stop.
[1:48] The last words the jury heard before
[1:49] heading into deliberations were those of
[1:51] Judge John Davies who gave them detailed
[1:54] instructions on how to apply the law in
[1:56] this case.
[1:57] >> To win a conviction, the prosecution
[1:59] must prove beyond a reasonable doubt
[2:01] that these officers intended to punish
[2:03] Rodney King in violation of his civil
[2:05] rights.
[2:06] Judy Muller, ABC News, Los Angeles.
[2:09] >> Well, a heightened sense of tension has
[2:11] descended over Los Angeles where there
[2:13] is fear of possible trouble if the
[2:14] officers are found innocent again. So,
[2:17] some people are already taking
[2:18] precautions. Some small businesses are
[2:20] boarded up and gated. Workers have been
[2:22] installing heavy security doors. Some
[2:24] shopping malls have put up wrought iron
[2:26] fences. And a long line of customers
[2:28] formed at one of LA's major gun stores
[2:30] this morning. That was before it had
[2:32] even opened.
[2:34] Overseas, meanwhile, a shocking act of
[2:36] racial violence has taken the life of
[2:38] one of South Africa's most influential
[2:40] black leaders. Chris Hani was
[2:41] assassinated outside his home this
[2:43] morning. Police have arrested a white
[2:45] suspect. Hani, perhaps the most popular
[2:47] African National Congress official after
[2:49] Nelson Mandela, was a militant opponent
[2:51] of white minority rule in South Africa.
[2:54] And as Don Clark reports now, the murder
[2:56] could lead to even more violence.
[3:00] >> Grieving friends gathered outside Hani's
[3:02] home where his body still lay, gunned
[3:05] down just after he had returned from
[3:07] buying a morning paper. His
[3:09] assassination came as a terrible shock
[3:11] just as black and white leaders were
[3:13] trying to inject new life into this
[3:15] country's tattered peace process.
[3:17] >> It is a crisis for this country and it's
[3:20] a crime against the people of this
[3:21] country.
[3:22] It's a tragedy that we are going to pay
[3:24] very dearly for.
[3:26] >> Hani's killing was only the latest of
[3:28] many to recently shake this country and
[3:30] raise fears of even more violence.
[3:33] >> I hope it doesn't mean what it's
[3:34] everybody else is going to mean.
[3:37] Retaliation, etc. I hope not.
[3:41] >> Chris Hani was a pure revolutionary, a
[3:43] Latin scholar, a lover of Shakespeare,
[3:46] but most of all a staunch opponent of
[3:48] white minority rule.
[3:50] >> We We continue to fight until apartheid
[3:52] is completely dismantled.
[3:54] >> Until last year, when he took over as
[3:56] head of the South African Communist
[3:58] Party, Hani served as chief of staff of
[4:00] the ANC's army. Among young militants,
[4:03] he probably had more credibility than
[4:05] any other black leader, including Nelson
[4:07] Mandela, who this evening pleaded for
[4:10] calm.
[4:10] >> We must not permit ourselves
[4:13] to be provoked by those who seek to deny
[4:16] us
[4:17] the very freedom Chris Hani gave his
[4:20] life for.
[4:22] >> Those closest to Hani say he was not the
[4:24] man his enemies made him out to be.
[4:26] >> People wanted all the time the image of
[4:29] chief of staff
[4:30] to remain on him so that he must be a
[4:32] man of war portrayed forever.
[4:37] But Chris died for peace.
[4:41] >> I think you're right.
[4:41] >> How shall we convince people
[4:44] >> Okay.
[4:45] >> about this?
[4:46] >> A question many South Africans are
[4:48] trying to answer tonight. Don Kladstrup,
[4:51] ABC News, Johannesburg.
[4:54] >> There's more news coming up. Milwaukee
[4:56] scrambles to deal with drinking water
[4:58] contamination that sent hundreds of
[4:59] people to the hospital, and a
[5:01] controversial child custody decision
[5:03] sparks an emotional demonstration in
[5:04] Iowa. And later in this broadcast,
[5:07] Florida's unprecedented effort to save
[5:09] the endangered manatee.
[5:13] World News, Saturday, brought to you by
[5:17] AT&T.
[5:20] >> Mr. Dangerfield, AT&T online, too.
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[6:00] And as of last night, so does everybody
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[6:03] >> In its first year, the all new Toyota
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[6:22] >> Emergency workers are struggling to
[6:23] contain an oil slick in the Mississippi
[6:25] River about 30 miles upstream from New
[6:27] Orleans. 4200 gallons of heavy oil
[6:30] leaked into the river when a barge
[6:32] collided with the Sunshine Bridge. The
[6:34] river has been closed along that 30-mile
[6:36] stretch and communities that depend on
[6:38] the Mississippi for their drinking water
[6:39] have been warned that they may have to
[6:41] close their intakes.
[6:42] Drinking water contamination is still
[6:44] creating a nightmare for authorities in
[6:46] Milwaukee. Today, a city chemist said
[6:48] that Milwaukee authorities should have
[6:50] been prepared for the current health
[6:51] crisis because there were plenty of
[6:53] warning signs a month ago. We have the
[6:55] latest on that from ABC's Jim Slade.
[6:58] Thousands are sick with flu-like
[7:00] symptoms apparently caused by a virulent
[7:02] parasite Cryptosporidium, which is
[7:04] usually passed through the water supply.
[7:06] And today, a city chemist says managers
[7:08] of one of the city's two filtration
[7:10] plants should have seen this coming
[7:12] because the water's turbidity or
[7:13] cloudiness was unusually high in March.
[7:16] >> I think
[7:17] that that to me that that is a very good
[7:21] warning sign that something could have
[7:24] gotten through. I don't think that that
[7:26] I would have permitted that kind of
[7:28] water.
[7:29] >> Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist agreed
[7:31] that will be investigated. In a news
[7:33] conference, Norquist said an additional
[7:35] test seems to point to the South Side
[7:37] Water Plant as the source of the
[7:38] trouble.
[7:39] >> There continues to be uh
[7:42] uh support for our hypothesis that it
[7:45] that the uh
[7:46] uh water produced by the
[7:49] plant on the south side
[7:51] uh
[7:52] was the problem. We have anecdotal uh
[7:55] information like school
[7:57] uh absentee rates.
[7:59] >> Dr. says the EPA is sending an engineer
[8:01] to begin test and that the entire river
[8:03] system feeding the plants will be
[8:04] checked. A still unknown number of
[8:07] residents are down with nausea, cramps,
[8:08] and often severe diarrhea, so severe
[8:11] that many are in danger of dehydration.
[8:13] The parasite is of special concern to
[8:15] the some 750 people here known to have
[8:17] the AIDS virus, since their weakened
[8:19] immune system lets it into the
[8:21] bloodstream. Doctors say the effects
[8:23] ought to wear off in a normally healthy
[8:25] person in about 14 days at the most, but
[8:27] the parasite lasts much longer than that
[8:29] in the system. And Milwaukeans will have
[8:31] to be extra careful for several more
[8:33] days at least. Jim Slade, ABC News,
[8:36] Milwaukee.
[8:38] >> The fate of a 2-year-old girl, the prize
[8:40] in a long and hostile child custody
[8:42] battle, sparked an angry demonstration
[8:44] today in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The case
[8:46] pits the girl's adoptive parents, who
[8:48] have raised her from birth, against the
[8:50] girl's biological parents. More on that
[8:52] now from ABC's Bill Blakemore.
[8:56] >> The crowd of some 250 mostly Iowans just
[8:59] filled the center of the small town
[9:01] square, but the crowd's emotions ran
[9:02] high.
[9:03] >> JUSTICE FOR JESSICA!
[9:05] >> JUSTICE FOR JESSICA!
[9:07] >> to make her remain in Michigan with the
[9:09] DeBoers. That's what we want.
[9:11] >> And they want to change the adoption
[9:13] laws which allowed this to happen.
[9:14] >> They never should have let this process
[9:16] drag out to where now as groups we're
[9:19] rallying 2 years later.
[9:21] >> Some came with their own adopted
[9:22] children.
[9:23] >> If anyone were to take my son
[9:26] I I'd be devastated. Everybody
[9:29] the Schmidts, the DeBoers, the courts,
[9:32] the the legislators have to think about
[9:34] what's right for a 2-year-old little
[9:36] girl.
[9:37] >> 20 miles away, biological father Daniel
[9:39] Schmidt spent the day away from cameras
[9:41] with his wife in their small house. They
[9:43] charge that the DeBoers have been
[9:45] stalling ever since being told Jessica
[9:47] was wanted back 9 days after getting
[9:49] her. Last night on local television,
[9:52] Cara Schmidt said this is all bigger
[9:53] than just her child.
[9:55] >> Yes, our daughter will suffer some
[9:57] trauma. But how does that compare to the
[9:59] thousands of other children who could
[10:01] then be legally kidnapped?
[10:03] >> Today's demonstrators argue that if the
[10:05] DeBoers have to return Jessica to the
[10:07] Schmidts, that will also be a kind of
[10:09] legal kidnapping, hurting the child.
[10:11] >> Children need the same legal rights that
[10:15] the rest of us have.
[10:16] >> But Jessica is not the only person whose
[10:19] rights are still being asserted in this
[10:21] case.
[10:22] The DeBoers still hope the Michigan
[10:23] Supreme Court will hear their appeal.
[10:26] More rallies supporting them are planned
[10:27] for next weekend. And here in Iowa, the
[10:30] Schmidts show no sign of giving up the
[10:32] rights they believe they have to their
[10:33] biological child. Bill Blakemore, ABC
[10:36] News, Cedar Rapids.
[10:38] >> In Florida today, the first large-scale
[10:40] abortion protests in the months since an
[10:42] abortion doctor was shot to death at a
[10:44] clinic in Pensacola. Today's protest was
[10:46] in Melbourne, where members of Operation
[10:48] Rescue were determined to violate a
[10:50] unique and controversial court order.
[10:53] ABC's Mark Potter with that.
[10:56] >> The court has ordered you to stay across
[10:58] the street. You don't have a right to be
[11:00] on this side.
[11:01] >> Ma'am, you're shoving me and I have a
[11:03] baby in my hands. I'd appreciate if you
[11:04] wouldn't shove.
[11:05] >> injunction
[11:06] >> The circuit court injunction is supposed
[11:08] to prevent anti-abortion activists from
[11:10] picketing directly in front of the Aware
[11:12] Woman Center for Choice in Melbourne,
[11:14] Florida. But today, Operation Rescue
[11:18] violated the order.
[11:19] >> This is a judicial gag order is what
[11:21] this is, and we're not going to be
[11:22] gagged.
[11:24] >> After issuing a verbal warning, police
[11:26] arrested 50 of the demonstrators.
[11:28] >> GOING TO JAIL!
[11:32] >> WILL YOU PLEASE STEP THIS WAY? YOU'RE
[11:33] UNDER ARREST FOR violation of court
[11:34] injunction.
[11:35] >> Part of me is very pleased that they
[11:37] have started to arrest. Another part of
[11:39] me is extraordinarily unhappy that the
[11:42] streets are clogged and that my patients
[11:45] are unable to get through.
[11:47] >> Anti-abortion leaders say they will
[11:48] appeal the judge's order, while abortion
[11:51] supporters say they will try to expand
[11:53] it.
[11:54] >> It is ridiculous to ask clinics to have
[11:56] to go circuit court by circuit court.
[11:58] There are 20 of them in this state.
[12:00] Uh we would like a statewide injunction.
[12:04] >> The scene here today will likely be
[12:05] repeated over and over. Operation Rescue
[12:08] just bought this house across the street
[12:11] from the clinic. And anti-abortion
[12:13] activists say once they post bond and
[12:14] get out of jail, they will come back
[12:16] here to violate the judge's order again
[12:19] and to be rearrested.
[12:21] Mark Potter, ABC News, Melbourne,
[12:24] Florida.
[12:25] >> In Scranton, Pennsylvania today,
[12:27] President and Mrs. Clinton attended
[12:28] funeral services for her father, Hugh
[12:30] Rodham, who died Wednesday night after
[12:32] suffering a stroke. The service was
[12:34] restricted to family and friends. Hugh
[12:36] Rodham was 82.
[12:38] We'll be back with more World News
[12:39] Saturday in just a moment.
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[14:45] >> FBI agents camped at the Branch Davidian
[14:47] compound outside of Waco, Texas, have
[14:50] received a puzzling and perhaps ominous
[14:52] letter from cult leader David Koresh.
[14:54] They say it may represent the message
[14:56] from God that Koresh said he wanted
[14:58] before ending the 42-day standoff. The
[15:01] latest on that now from ABC's Charles
[15:03] Murphy.
[15:05] >> Steve Schneider, Koresh's faithful
[15:07] lieutenant, came out of the compound
[15:09] yesterday afternoon. First, he put down
[15:11] a letter, then set off several incense
[15:14] canisters at the grave of a cult member
[15:16] killed in the gun battle. They made a
[15:18] lot of smoke. This is a holy ritual for
[15:20] Davidians at a very holy time, so the
[15:23] FBI gave its permission.
[15:25] >> Today
[15:26] uh is is a very uh high holy day for
[15:30] them. Any Sabbath that occurs during the
[15:33] Passover season is is is considered
[15:36] uh a very holy day.
[15:38] >> A tank picked up the letter. It was said
[15:40] to be a message to Koresh from God. An
[15:43] angry God who told Koresh what he told
[15:45] the biblical David, "Thou shalt break
[15:47] them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash
[15:50] them to pieces." It was a warning.
[15:52] >> He expects sometime during the Passover
[15:54] season that a cataclysmic event will
[15:56] occur, which will fulfill his
[15:58] prophecies. If that does not take place,
[16:00] we assume that that means it's a message
[16:02] from God to to come forth.
[16:04] >> Anyway, that's what the FBI here thinks
[16:06] the letter means. It's been sent to
[16:08] Washington for analysis by experts.
[16:11] >> If it is the message from God, then we
[16:13] have to know what the heck the message
[16:14] is.
[16:15] >> Today, the FBI began laying concertina
[16:17] barbed wire around the compound. They
[16:19] said too many people had been coming
[16:21] outside to test their control. Charles
[16:24] Murphy, ABC News, near Waco.
[16:27] >> And when we come back, Dick Schaap with
[16:29] today's sports news and a story about
[16:31] violence in the NBA.
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[17:13] >> Any kids around our chain?
[17:15] >> Uh sorry, Billy, not your age.
[17:17] >> A little earlier, Jane Stewart was
[17:19] troubled with arthritis pain. So, she
[17:21] took a Motrin IB, the same medicine as
[17:23] in the Motrin doctors have prescribed
[17:25] for years, but in non-prescription
[17:27] strength. And just one Motrin IB is as
[17:29] effective as two regular aspirin.
[17:31] >> All right, kid.
[17:32] Let's see what you got.
[17:33] >> Hey, Jane.
[17:34] >> Come on.
[17:35] >> Motrin IB, the relief of Motrin in
[17:37] non-prescription strength.
[17:40] >> You shrink from human contact.
[17:43] You avoid each other like the plague.
[17:45] You are not you yet. Morning breath.
[17:48] It's as if the sticky, pasty film in
[17:50] your mouth is affecting your mind. But
[17:53] there's hope. There's Scope. Scope's
[17:55] antibacterial action kills millions of
[17:57] morning breath bacteria. So, no wonder
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[18:02] Suddenly, your breath is minty fresh,
[18:04] and so is your outlook. Morning breath
[18:06] is a problem, but you can kiss it
[18:07] goodbye with Scope.
[18:10] >> Under cover of darkness, you could be
[18:13] under attack
[18:16] by land,
[18:18] air,
[18:22] even water.
[18:30] Unless your home's under the care and
[18:32] protection of Ortho.
[18:35] It's our nature to help.
[18:41] >> Now, let's go to New York and Dick
[18:42] Schaap, who today has everything from a
[18:44] little baseball, a little golf, to bad
[18:47] behavior in basketball. Dick.
[18:49] >> Well, I'll stay away from the bad
[18:50] behavior at the beginning, and we'll
[18:51] start with the golf. Bernhard Langer of
[18:53] Germany, who's won the German, Dutch,
[18:55] French, Spanish, Italian, and Irish
[18:57] Opens, is making a strong bid to win the
[18:59] Masters for the second time. The
[19:02] 35-year-old Langer opened up a
[19:03] four-stroke lead over the field today,
[19:05] shooting a 69 highlighted by this chip
[19:08] for a birdie on the 11th hole.
[19:11] Ben Crenshaw and Chip Beck share second
[19:12] place with veterans Raymond Floyd and
[19:15] Jack Nicklaus falling far off the pace.
[19:18] In baseball, a pair of Cy Young winners
[19:20] hooked up today and Dwight Gooden of the
[19:22] Mets lost the duel.
[19:24] Houston's Luis Gonzalez had a single, a
[19:27] double, and this home run to back up the
[19:30] winning pitcher Doug Drabek, who was
[19:32] also aided by Eric Anthony's running
[19:34] eighth-inning catch depriving Joe
[19:36] Orsulak of a game-tying double.
[19:40] The old joke was, I went to a fight and
[19:42] a hockey game broke out. Now the joke
[19:44] has a new twist, a basketball twist.
[19:47] Armen Keteyian reports on violence in
[19:50] the NBA.
[19:58] >> This is the image the National
[19:59] Basketball Association can't get enough
[20:01] of.
[20:03] >> And this is another image it has been
[20:05] seeing entirely too much of this year.
[20:10] >> The NBA has really got to take hold of
[20:12] this thing because it's just
[20:14] totally out of hand and if the
[20:15] commissioner doesn't grab hold of it and
[20:18] do something with it, the image of the
[20:19] league will truly suffer.
[20:22] >> Position in power, glares and stares,
[20:25] ego and emotion, the seeds of victory
[20:28] and increasingly violence in the NBA.
[20:30] >> I think intimidation is important in
[20:32] every sport. Play hard, play aggressive,
[20:34] and whoever left standing at the end,
[20:36] obviously you don't want to fight, but
[20:38] intimidation is important.
[20:39] >> When you get out there competing, you
[20:41] know, you can't help it sometimes, you
[20:42] know, attitudes flare up and tempers
[20:44] flare up, so
[20:46] that's just the nature of the game.
[20:48] >> 45 players have already been cited for
[20:51] foul play. The NBA's most valuable
[20:53] commercial products, Michael Jordan and
[20:56] rookie sensation Shaquille O'Neal, have
[20:58] both gotten into the swing of things.
[21:01] >> There's a lot on the line this year and
[21:03] I think coupled with the trash talking
[21:05] and just coupled with some things are
[21:06] going to happen anyway has led to an
[21:09] increase of incidents.
[21:10] >> The ugliest incident was this
[21:11] bench-clearing brawl 2 and 1/2 weeks ago
[21:13] between the Phoenix Suns and New York
[21:15] Knicks.
[21:16] >> And this could become ugly.
[21:18] >> The teams are starting to use that
[21:20] against us. They're saying that we are
[21:22] dirty team. We uh
[21:24] take cheap shots and which is not true.
[21:27] >> You don't keep playing the same make
[21:28] basketball aggressive up in your face
[21:29] defense. I'm going to let the chips fall
[21:31] where they may.
[21:37] >> While the last decade has been largely
[21:39] fun and games for the NBA, its public
[21:41] image is now being threatened with a
[21:43] black eye.
[21:44] When we asked league officials to
[21:46] comment on the fighting, their answer
[21:48] was
[21:49] no one's available to talk about it.
[21:51] >> You better believe they want to put a
[21:52] lid on it. But more importantly, to put
[21:55] a lid on it, they got to take actions to
[21:57] correct it.
[21:59] >> Yet the league has been sending a
[22:00] message with a series of suspensions and
[22:03] fines totaling nearly $500,000
[22:06] this season.
[22:07] But are the players listening?
[22:09] >> I mean, you got guys now making five,
[22:11] six, seven million dollars. If you don't
[22:13] want nobody to fight, you take a lot of
[22:15] money. And I mean not just like, you
[22:17] know, 20, 35,000 like half a season or
[22:20] something like that.
[22:23] >> With the playoffs looming, the battle
[22:25] lines are still being drawn. The
[22:27] question is, who will cross them and at
[22:29] what cost?
[22:31] Armen Keteyian, ABC News, New York.
[22:35] >> Of all the players in the NBA, Muggsy
[22:37] Bogues probably has the best name for a
[22:39] fighter and the worst build. He's 5'3".
[22:44] Jud?
[22:45] >> 5'3", huh? You better watch out, Dick.
[22:46] He could kneecap you.
[22:48] Anyway, when we come back, saving the
[22:50] manatee from its biggest enemy, man.
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[23:57] >> Sunday on Day One, Officer Laurence
[23:59] Powell of over 50 blows to Rodney King,
[24:01] he struck the most as his explosive
[24:03] trial comes to an end. He talks to Day
[24:05] One, Sunday.
[24:08] >> Consider, if you will, the manatee. They
[24:11] can run up to 13 ft long and weigh up to
[24:13] 3,000 lb and no one ever accused them of
[24:16] being beautiful. But legend has it that
[24:18] these sea beasts used to be mistaken for
[24:20] mermaids luring sailors to their doom on
[24:23] the rocks.
[24:24] Well, now sadly the tables have been
[24:25] turned and it is man that's leading the
[24:27] manatee to its doom. Linda Patillo has a
[24:29] story of efforts to stop a legend
[24:32] from turning into a memory.
[24:35] >> Out of sight of the crowds in the
[24:36] dancing dolphin show, doctors at the
[24:38] Miami Seaquarium are struggling to save
[24:41] a life.
[24:42] >> Big girl,
[24:43] I'm going to take a blood sample from
[24:44] you today.
[24:45] >> Phoenix, a young manatee only a year and
[24:48] a half old was brought here last month
[24:50] after she was struck by a boat
[24:51] propeller. Veterinarian Greg Bossart
[24:54] doesn't know if she will survive.
[24:56] >> Our pit here took this piece off, the
[24:59] next turn got this one, the final turn
[25:01] got here.
[25:02] >> Phoenix is the sixth manatee treated
[25:04] here this year. This manatee, Adair, and
[25:07] her calf Lydia were found in January
[25:09] stuck in a canal.
[25:11] >> This is pretty classic boat related
[25:13] injury. Just took carved a big piece of
[25:16] tissue right out.
[25:17] >> In the last decade, more than 400
[25:19] manatees were killed by boats.
[25:22] 30 years ago, there were more than
[25:23] 10,000 manatees in US waters. Today,
[25:27] there are fewer than 2,000. The only
[25:30] enemy these slow-moving vegetarian
[25:32] mammals have is man. Already an
[25:34] endangered species, manatees are on the
[25:37] verge of extinction. To stop that from
[25:39] happening, the state of Florida has
[25:41] launched an unprecedented effort to save
[25:43] the species. The state has identified 13
[25:46] counties as key manatee areas. Each must
[25:49] develop a plan for protecting the
[25:50] mammals. In all 13 counties, tough new
[25:53] laws have drastically reduced boat speed
[25:56] limits.
[25:57] Money from the sale of special manatee
[25:59] license plates, more than a million
[26:01] dollars a year, finances the manatee
[26:03] protection efforts. Private citizens
[26:05] have formed manatee hotlines to report
[26:08] injured manatees. The Save the Manatee
[26:10] Club, formed to promote manatee
[26:12] awareness, now boasts more than 30,000
[26:14] members.
[26:15] >> It's very lovable, it's very gentle.
[26:18] It's non-threatening and people in
[26:20] general
[26:21] um have just taken to the manatee.
[26:24] >> To help injured manatees return to the
[26:26] wild, the state has designated six
[26:29] rescue, rehabilitation, and release
[26:31] centers.
[26:32] >> We need every manatee we have. We have
[26:34] so few manatees, everyone that can go
[26:35] back and contribute to the gene pool, to
[26:37] the population, is very important.
[26:39] >> And so, on a recent morning, the
[26:41] Seaquarium staff prepared to release
[26:43] Adair
[26:44] >> 1 2 3
[26:46] >> and her baby Lydia.
[26:47] >> Okay, easy, easy coming down the hill.
[26:49] >> Lie down by the water's edge, Joe.
[26:50] >> After a 3-hour ride north to more
[26:52] protected waters, the two manatees were
[26:55] fitted with transmitters so biologists
[26:57] can track their movements by satellite.
[26:59] >> Get ready. Get ready. Roll her off and
[27:01] out now.
[27:07] >> I just
[27:08] say a little prayer that they go in the
[27:09] right direction and avoid the boats and
[27:12] cuz unfortunately the boats haven't
[27:13] learned to avoid them yet.
[27:15] >> Adair and Lydia were last spotted with
[27:17] other manatees migrating up the coast
[27:19] toward their summer waters. Linda
[27:21] Patillo, ABC News, Hobe Sound, Florida.
[27:26] >> Mhm.
[27:27] Tonight a story about manatees and who
[27:28] knows tomorrow a report on Easter seals.
[27:33] Speaking of tomorrow, a program
[27:34] reminder, how the government can deal
[27:36] with rising poverty, crime, and other
[27:38] problems plaguing American cities.
[27:39] That's the topic tomorrow on This Week
[27:41] with David Brinkley. The guests, Housing
[27:43] Secretary Henry Cisneros and Senate
[27:45] Majority Leader George Mitchell.
[27:48] And that's World News Saturday. I'm Judd
[27:49] Rose. For all of us here at ABC News,
[27:52] good night.
[27:55] >> From Washington, this has been World
[27:57] News Saturday.
[28:04] This has been a presentation of ABC
[28:06] News. More Americans get their news from
[28:09] ABC News than from any other source.