CBS Evening News open - 1993-04-09

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] in for one today.

[0:02] >> It's not over till it's over. Another

[0:04] military challenge today from Saddam

[0:06] Hussein and return fire from US war

[0:09] plananes. The US government tells

[0:12] General Motors to voluntarily recall

[0:14] millions of controversial pickup trucks

[0:16] or else. And eye on America. Tonight,

[0:20] what children are learning from Kids TV

[0:23] and what you can do about it. I like

[0:25] Beus and Buttthead on MTV cuz um they

[0:28] teach you like this is what kids really

[0:31] do.

[0:32] >> This is the CBS Evening News.

[0:40] >> Good evening. I'm Connie Chung sitting

[0:41] in for Dan Rather. For the first time

[0:43] since President Clinton took office, US

[0:46] armed forces came under hostile fire

[0:48] today and they fired back. It happened

[0:50] over Iraq. No Americans were hurt, but

[0:53] as Jim Stewart reports, it was a taste

[0:55] of what the new commanderin-chief may

[0:57] face in the days ahead.

[1:00] >> The incident involved four US aircraft,

[1:03] three F-16s and an F4, engaged in what

[1:06] the Pentagon describes as a routine

[1:08] monitoring mission over northern Iraq.

[1:10] The US planes were north of Mosul, well

[1:12] within a zone forbidden to Iraqi planes

[1:14] and patrolled by Allied aircraft when

[1:16] they were targeted by Iraqi

[1:18] anti-aircraft radar and then fired on.

[1:20] None were hit. Two of the F-16s dropped

[1:23] bombs in return.

[1:24] >> Iraq understands clearly what its

[1:26] obligations are in regard to the no-fly

[1:28] zone and will be held solely responsible

[1:31] for the serious consequences of failure

[1:34] to comply with these obligations.

[1:36] >> US officials believe the attack was

[1:38] deliberate, but aren't sure yet if it's

[1:40] the start of anything bigger.

[1:41] >> There was an incident. We'll get to

[1:43] details that

[1:44] >> Iraqi television showed some bomb

[1:46] damage, but didn't explain the

[1:47] provocation. It was the first serious

[1:49] encounter between Iraqi and US forces

[1:52] since shortly after President Clinton

[1:53] took office and a reminder of just how

[1:56] frustrating enforcement of a no-fly zone

[1:58] can be. Beginning Monday, the US and

[2:00] NATO allies will be enforcing another

[2:02] no-fly order, this one over Bosnia. That

[2:05] operation will be run out of air bases

[2:07] in Italy and include French, Dutch, and

[2:09] British aircraft. The US contribution

[2:11] 430 personnel plus 12 Air Force F-15s

[2:15] and 12 Navy F-18s from the aircraft

[2:17] carrier Roosevelt. These aircraft will

[2:19] be directed by NATO controllers during

[2:21] their no-fly operations.

[2:23] >> As in Iraq, the goal of enforcing a

[2:24] no-fly order over Bosnia is to keep one

[2:27] side, especially the more powerful Serbs

[2:29] in this case, from having an unfair

[2:31] advantage. Chances of a confrontation in

[2:33] the skies over Bosnia seem remote. US

[2:36] and NATO aircraft will not fire at

[2:37] ground targets, and pilots must issue a

[2:40] string of warnings before shooting at

[2:42] any aircraft. These so-called rules of

[2:44] engagement are much like the Clinton

[2:46] administration's overall policy right

[2:47] now toward both Bosnia and Iraq. Go

[2:50] slow, be deliberate, and use as little

[2:52] military muscle as possible. Jim

[2:54] Stewart, CBS News. The Pentagon.

[2:57] >> US highway safety officials are using

[2:59] some muscle today in a longunning

[3:01] dispute over the safety of millions of

[3:04] General Motors pickup trucks.

[3:06] Correspondent Rita Braver reports.

[3:09] The US government today asked General

[3:11] Motors to voluntarily recall its

[3:13] controversial pickup trucks alleged to

[3:15] burst into flames in crashes causing

[3:17] hundreds of deaths. Some 4.7 million of

[3:20] the vehicles with fuel tanks mounted

[3:22] outside the truck frame are now on the

[3:24] nation's highways.

[3:26] >> Those vehicles are creating inside

[3:28] crashes an unreasonable risk to the

[3:31] occupants of those vehicles.

[3:33] >> Specifically, a government study found

[3:34] that the trucks are more likely to catch

[3:36] on fire inside impact crashes than other

[3:38] trucks and that the fuel tank design is

[3:41] likely to lead to five to six additional

[3:43] deaths per year. It was such a fire that

[3:46] killed 17-year-old Shannon Mosley, whose

[3:48] family won a hundred million jury

[3:50] verdict against General Motors earlier

[3:52] this year. Consumer advocate Clarence

[3:54] Ditllo has led the fight to have the GM

[3:56] trucks recalled.

[3:58] >> It means for consumers who drive in fear

[4:00] of their lives and side impacts in these

[4:02] trucks are that much closer to a recall.

[4:06] And we couldn't be happier for the for

[4:08] the consumers.

[4:09] >> GM was defiant. These GM trucks meet all

[4:13] applicable safety standards and General

[4:16] Motors does not agree with any

[4:18] suggestion that they should be recalled

[4:20] because of their sidemounted tanks.

[4:22] >> If GM does not change its position, the

[4:24] government will begin hearings that

[4:26] could lead to a mandatory and expensive

[4:29] recall, forcing the company to modify

[4:31] its trucks to make them safe. Rita

[4:34] Braver, CBS News, Washington.

[4:37] Defense lawyers told