World News Tonight (ABC) - 1985-02-28

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Transcript

Language: English (YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] on March 4th.

[0:05] >> From ABC, this is World News Tonight

[0:08] with Peter Jennings.

[0:09] >> Good evening. It may be difficult for

[0:11] the government in Nicaragua to

[0:12] understand what the Reagan

[0:13] administration really means. Yesterday,

[0:15] Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega made

[0:17] what he called a peace proposal to the

[0:19] United States. Today, the White House

[0:21] said it was quote, "A lot of air." But

[0:24] the Secretary of State said he was

[0:25] willing to sit down and discuss the

[0:26] proposals for a peaceful settlement in

[0:29] the region. Here's our White House

[0:30] correspondent, Sam Donaldelsson.

[0:34] >> Administration officials cast suspicion

[0:36] on the new Nicaraguan peace offensive

[0:37] today from the White House, from the

[0:39] stump in Texas from an airport news

[0:41] conference in Ecuador, but did so in

[0:43] moderate tones so as not to suggest an

[0:46] outofhand dismissal. Secretary of State

[0:48] Schulz on his way to the presidential

[0:50] inauguration in Uruguay was asked

[0:52] whether he would agree to meet

[0:53] Nicaragua's leader there tomorrow.

[0:55] >> There is no meeting scheduled, but I've

[0:58] read in the newspapers that he is

[1:01] proposing one, and I certainly am

[1:03] prepared to

[1:05] have a meeting. The move Nicaraguan

[1:08] President Daniel Ortega made last night

[1:09] was to announce he will halt the

[1:11] importation of new Soviet block weapon

[1:13] systems for some period of time and

[1:15] he'll send home a 100 Cuban military

[1:17] advisers at some point. This in addition

[1:19] to inviting a bipartisan group of US

[1:21] congressmen to visit Nicaragua and

[1:23] inspect the country's military buildup.

[1:26] In a Texas speech, Vice President Bush

[1:28] said that was something, but not much.

[1:30] on the face of it, offering to remove

[1:33] about 1% of the Cuban presence or to

[1:37] pause in their imports of arms, which

[1:39] they acknowledge could not be absorbed

[1:42] at this time, do not appear to represent

[1:45] significant moves. Bush went on to

[1:47] suggest Ortega was doing even this much

[1:49] because of mounting internal opposition

[1:51] and because US policy is working. And at

[1:53] the White House, Deputy Press Secretary

[1:55] Larry Speaks said Ortega hadn't done it

[1:57] because, as Speaks put it, he was fat

[1:59] and happy down there, but had launched a

[2:01] sophisticated peace offensive to defeat

[2:03] administration proposals in Congress. On

[2:06] Capitol Hill today, State Department

[2:08] officials continued to warn about the

[2:09] Nicaraguan arms buildup and continued to

[2:12] press the case that Congress should

[2:14] agree to resume covert aid to the Contra

[2:16] forces fighting Ortega Sandinista

[2:18] government. Administration officials are

[2:20] quite concerned about the new Nicaraguan

[2:22] peace offensive, sham though it may be,

[2:24] for it comes at a time when they were

[2:25] already facing an uphill fight in

[2:27] Congress and the country for support for

[2:29] their plan to resume funding for the

[2:30] anti-sandinista Contras. Ortega's peace

[2:33] announcement may be nothing but

[2:35] propaganda, but it may nevertheless

[2:37] prove to be a potent weapon. Sam

[2:39] Donaldson, ABC News, the White House.

[2:42] The president of the Soviet Union has

[2:44] made another semi-public appearance. And

[2:46] as ABC's Walter Rogers reports, it has

[2:48] done little to convince anyone that Mr.

[2:50] Chenko is in any better health.

[2:53] >> It was Chernenko's second appearance on

[2:55] television in 5 days. Although it was

[2:57] anything but reassuring as the Soviet

[2:59] president was presented with credentials

[3:01] after his re-election to the Russian

[3:03] Republic parliament. He looked weak and

[3:05] ill as he stood holding a chair to

[3:07] steady himself. The Soviet president

[3:10] barely managing a tentative handshake

[3:12] upon being congratulated for his

[3:14] election victory. Even when Charenko was

[3:16] sitting down today, he sounded tired,

[3:18] managing to utter only three or four

[3:20] words between deep gasps or breath.

[3:31] >> Perhaps most revealing was the setting.

[3:33] These pink walls and white curtains

[3:35] clearly suggest Chernenko was in the

[3:36] same room, perhaps a hospital, as in

[3:39] these pictures taken last Sunday when he

[3:41] was shown voting in what was then said

[3:43] to be a polling place. Only the

[3:45] furniture had been changed. Another poll

[3:47] at Bureau member, Victor Grecian,

[3:49] figured prominently in both Sundays as

[3:51] well as today's report on Soviet

[3:53] television. Grecian, who's been

[3:54] mentioned as a possible successor to

[3:56] Chernenko, was shown reporting on last

[3:58] month's economic statistics, making it

[4:01] clear to the Soviet people Cherenko has

[4:03] not been in charge of day-to-day

[4:04] business here.

[4:08] >> Walter Rogers, ABC News, Moscow.

[4:12] >> Still, overseas, Northern Ireland has

[4:14] been having what a lot of people are

[4:15] calling the most violent week in 3

[4:17] years. Today, there was a mortar attack

[4:18] on a police station in the city of Nuri.

[4:21] Nine police officers were killed and 30

[4:24] more were wounded. The Irish Republican

[4:26] Army says its men mounted the attack.

[4:29] Later in this broadcast, a strike

[4:31] grounds Pan-American travelers and

[4:33] investors worried about the airlines

[4:35] future. Louisiana's governor indicted on

[4:38] 50 counts of corruption and fraud. And a

[4:41] fabulous fraud fools a lot of famous

[4:44] names.

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[5:52] >> A strike has all but shut down the

[5:54] nation's third largest airline,

[5:55] Pan-American. Today, 7,500 Panama

[5:58] workers, including baggage handlers and

[6:00] mechanics, walked off the job. Panama

[6:02] has been running in the red for several

[6:04] years, but the workers say they have

[6:06] already given up enough. As ABC Stone

[6:09] Phillips reports, the company is

[6:10] insisting on more concessions.

[6:13] The pickets were noisy today. The

[6:15] terminals were not. All but 14 of

[6:18] Panama's 400 daily flights worldwide

[6:21] canled because of the strike. But with

[6:23] jets on the ground, there wasn't much

[6:25] hope in the air for a quick settlement.

[6:27] Talk on the picket line was bitter.

[6:29] >> Before we used to be one of the highest

[6:30] paid airlines. Now we're one of the

[6:32] lowest paid airlines. If Panama has to

[6:34] go down because of this strike, then let

[6:36] it go down and let us all get on with

[6:37] the rest of our lives the way we're

[6:38] supposed to.

[6:39] >> The main issue is wages. In 1982, Panama

[6:43] workers agreed to a wage freeze,

[6:45] sacrificing salary increases of 14% over

[6:48] three years. Now they say they want

[6:50] their due.

[6:51] >> We've given concessions when concessions

[6:54] weren't fashionable and we've had

[6:56] enough.

[6:57] >> Panam, which has offered a raise smaller

[6:59] than the workers won, says the unions

[7:01] being unreasonable. With ticket agents,

[7:04] pilots, flight attendants, and other

[7:05] ground personnel honoring the strike,

[7:07] Panama supervisors were pressed to find

[7:10] the airlines 39,000 daily passengers

[7:12] seats on other carriers. Thousands had

[7:15] to wait in Miami, Los Angeles, and

[7:17] London. In New York, passengers bound

[7:19] for the Caribbean complained that Panama

[7:21] checked people in, then canled their

[7:23] flight without returning luggage. They

[7:25] told this man

[7:26] >> said, "Oh, we can't get your baggage

[7:28] back. It's already gone down to St.

[7:29] Thomas." Well, I was supposed to go to

[7:31] Martinique. Both sides say this strike

[7:33] comes at the worst possible time. The

[7:35] company still losing money, workers

[7:37] tired of making concessions. The

[7:39] question now is how long the strike will

[7:40] last and whether Panama can survive it.

[7:44] Stone Phillips, ABC News, New York. This

[7:47] is Dan Courtz. Today's Panama strike was

[7:50] touched off by a problem that has

[7:51] already been confronted by several other

[7:53] major airlines. Labor costs that are too

[7:56] high for today's competitive world of

[7:58] deregulated air travel. New no frrills

[8:00] carriers like People Express and the

[8:02] fair wars they have touched off have

[8:04] forced many established airlines to

[8:06] adopt cost cutting flight plans. For

[8:09] example, at Eastern, which narrowly

[8:11] averted bankruptcy earlier this month,

[8:13] workers have traded big wage concessions

[8:15] for a major share of company stock.

[8:17] They've also agreed to work rule changes

[8:19] designed to boost their output.

[8:21] >> We're doing a lot of things better and

[8:22] the people are truly motivated. There's

[8:24] a a real spirit of interest because it's

[8:27] their wallet being affected. These giant

[8:29] jet engines were previously overhauled

[8:31] by outside contractors. Now, Eastern

[8:34] mechanics do the job for no extra pay.

[8:36] That will save the company $4 million

[8:38] this year. Expensive nuts and bolts

[8:41] accidentally dropped on the floor of

[8:42] Eastern's maintenance shops used to be

[8:44] swept up and discarded. Now they're

[8:46] salvaged, $62,000 worth on this card

[8:49] alone. The reality of the marketplace

[8:52] has has demanded uh that we make some

[8:55] adjustments in order to compete with

[8:56] other airlines who have labor costs that

[8:58] are less than half of ours. The senior

[9:01] pilot in this Continental cockpit is now

[9:03] paid $50,000 a year. Until 1983, senior

[9:07] pilots earned as much as $150,000. But

[9:09] then Continental filed for bankruptcy,

[9:11] canceled its labor contracts, and

[9:13] slashed almost all employee wages by

[9:15] half. Now it's labor costs which once

[9:18] were 40% of total expenses are only 20%.

[9:21] >> Keep the prices low and keep your costs

[9:23] low. Uh it's it's not magic. It's uh I

[9:27] don't think you have to go to business

[9:28] school to figure it out. Uh but it's uh

[9:30] it's something people in the airline

[9:32] industry got away from.

[9:34] >> Continental is now in the black and

[9:36] Eastern expects to be this year. If

[9:38] Panama hopes to end its 5 years of

[9:40] losses, experts agree it will have to

[9:42] cut its labor costs drastically, too.

[9:45] But that's a bitter pill these striking

[9:46] Panama workers are still not willing to

[9:48] swallow. Dan Courtz, ABC News, New York.

[9:53] >> In tonight's other money matters, the

[9:54] rising trade deficit despite the fact

[9:56] that in dollar terms the US exported

[9:59] more last month than ever before. We

[10:02] imported even more. The trade deficit in

[10:04] January was $10 billion. On Wall Street

[10:07] today, stocks closed slightly higher.

[10:09] The Dow Jones Industrials up about three

[10:11] points in fairly heavy trading. CBS

[10:15] stock rose $3 a share in heavy trading

[10:17] today. One possible reason, rumors the

[10:19] network may be the target of yet another

[10:21] takeover attempt. ABC's Steven Og

[10:23] reports that a lawyer for Ted Turner,

[10:26] who owns the cable news network, has

[10:28] been meeting privately with members of

[10:30] the Federal Communications Commission.

[10:32] The topic, a possible unfriendly

[10:34] takeover offer for CBS. In our next

[10:37] segment, General Dynamics. Has the

[10:39] nation's largest defense contractor been

[10:41] fleecing the American taxpayer?

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[12:17] In New Orleans today, Louisiana's

[12:19] Governor Edwin Edwards became the third

[12:21] governor in 50 years to be indicted

[12:23] while serving in office. Governor

[12:25] Edwards and six others were indicted on

[12:27] charges of grand raketeering, extortion,

[12:30] and mail fraud. Here's ABC's Mike Von.

[12:33] Governor Edwards tried to make light of

[12:35] the 50count indictment, saying he heard

[12:37] the news just after getting a good

[12:39] report from his doctor.

[12:40] >> I'll be able to live out any sentence

[12:42] that I might receive as a result of a

[12:44] conviction which may result from this.

[12:46] >> But US attorney John Bolt seemed

[12:48] confident he can convict the governor.

[12:51] >> We have uh certainly sufficient evidence

[12:54] to convince uh any jury that uh uh the

[12:59] defendants are guilty beyond a

[13:00] reasonable doubt. Edward's latest

[13:02] troubles involve hospitals. Before

[13:04] taking the governor's office for the

[13:06] third time, he received a fee of $2

[13:08] million from a group of investors who

[13:10] build hospitals. Shortly after taking

[13:12] office, Edwards granted that same group

[13:14] special state certification exemptions.

[13:17] He's been involved in other

[13:18] controversies and often boasts about his

[13:21] life in the fast lane, his love of

[13:22] gambling, and says he will continue to

[13:24] help those who help him.

[13:26] >> I took care of my people and my friends.

[13:28] One of Edward's friends was Korean

[13:30] influence peddler Tungen Park, who

[13:32] slipped Edward's wife an envelope

[13:34] containing a $10,000 gift. Edwards was

[13:37] not indicted and has since maintained

[13:39] that honesty is not the only quality for

[13:41] a politician.

[13:42] >> Because even if he's honest, it means

[13:44] he's not doing anything else for you.

[13:46] >> And on the streets of New Orleans, most

[13:47] of the people we talk to just like him.

[13:50] >> Hey, Fast Eddie is fast Eddie. He's

[13:52] wonderful. He is absolutely superb.

[13:54] >> Everybody make mistakes in life.

[13:57] So, I think he's doing a good job.

[14:00] >> You'd like to see him stay in office?

[14:01] >> Yeah, I'd like to see him.

[14:02] >> But that may not be possible. If

[14:04] convicted, Edwards faces a 20-year jail

[14:07] term for racketeering, and Louisiana no

[14:09] longer permits its politicians to hold

[14:11] office while in jail. Mike von, ABC

[14:14] News, New Orleans.

[14:16] >> On Capitol Hill today, an attempt to get

[14:17] a fuller version of charges that the

[14:19] nation's largest defense contractor has

[14:21] made billions of dollars as the result

[14:23] of questionable dealings with the

[14:24] Pentagon. The contractor is General

[14:27] Dynamics. And ABC's Dean Reynolds

[14:29] reports that a House committee has now

[14:30] had some startling information on how

[14:33] General Dynamics conducts its government

[14:35] business.

[14:37] >> It is, said one congressman, a textbook

[14:39] case on how to fleece the American

[14:41] taxpayer. General Dynamics chairman

[14:44] David Lewis and Chief Financial Officer

[14:46] Gordon McDonald called to explain their

[14:48] company and themselves. to explain why

[14:51] the company despite posting healthy

[14:53] profits has paid no taxes for more than

[14:56] a decade.

[14:57] >> I simply have to express my

[15:00] stupification

[15:01] at the very idea that uh you all have

[15:05] made since 1972 no contribution to the

[15:08] defense budget that you lobby

[15:10] assiduously day in and day out on this

[15:12] hill to increase. to explain why there

[15:15] is now more than $50 million in disputed

[15:18] charges to the government for such

[15:19] things as company vacations, country

[15:21] club memberships, even dog boarding. All

[15:24] build to the taxpayer.

[15:26] >> The taxpayers are paying for dog

[15:28] boarding.

[15:28] >> I'll draw that right now.

[15:30] >> What prompted this round of

[15:31] investigations was tape conversations

[15:33] provided Congress by this man, Takis

[15:36] Veltus, a former General Dynamics

[15:38] executive, now a fugitive from kickback

[15:40] charges. The tapes suggest a bold

[15:42] pattern of fraudulent behavior by the

[15:44] defense giant. From putting out phony

[15:46] press releases to stop a stock market

[15:48] slide to running up hundreds of millions

[15:50] of dollars in cost overruns on the Los

[15:53] Angeles class submarine through

[15:54] mismanagement and shoddy workmanship and

[15:57] then claiming it was Navy design changes

[15:59] and delays that caused the problem. To

[16:02] all of this, company chairman Lewis

[16:04] would acknowledge only minor human

[16:05] mistakes. I refuse to accept any

[16:08] portrayal of our company or its people

[16:12] as being dishonest or lacking in

[16:14] integrity. There are many more questions

[16:16] on this subject and company executives

[16:18] will be called back here next month to

[16:20] answer them and to dispel if they can

[16:22] one congressman's notion that General

[16:24] Dynamics motto appears to be catch us if

[16:27] you can. Dean Reynolds, ABC News,

[16:29] Capitol Hill. Six of the men accused of

[16:32] running organized crime in New York City

[16:34] appeared in court today to plead

[16:35] innocent to rakateeering charges. After

[16:38] the hearing, Philip Restelli, who is the

[16:40] reputed head of the Banano crime family,

[16:42] became ill and was taken away on a

[16:44] stretcher. He is the third of the

[16:46] alleged mob leaders to be taken ill

[16:49] since being indicted earlier this week.

[16:52] When we come back, the battle of the

[16:54] budget, David Stockman and round three.

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[19:00] As the battle of the budget has been

[19:02] waged on Capitol Hill these past few

[19:03] weeks, the man who's been taking a lot

[19:05] of the heat and for that matter creating

[19:07] some of it has been the budget director

[19:09] David Stockman. On behalf of President

[19:11] Reagan, Mr. Stockman has already mixed

[19:13] it up with the farmers and the military.

[19:15] Today he defended the president's

[19:17] decision to do away with the Small

[19:19] Business Administration. ABC's Anne

[19:21] Compton was at the hearings.

[19:24] >> The first witness didn't sound like

[19:26] someone who wants to abolish the Small

[19:28] Business Administration. Jim Sanders,

[19:30] keep up the good work at SBA.

[19:32] >> Jim Sanders is the SBA's chief who had

[19:35] that message taped for a conference last

[19:37] October. Budget Director Stockman

[19:39] testified that since that script was

[19:41] written, the president decided the

[19:43] government can no longer afford the

[19:44] inappropriate luxury of subsidizing

[19:47] loans to a handful of businesses. And

[19:49] some costic words of Stockman's came

[19:52] back to haunt him.

[19:54] >> Mr. Stockman, you have been quoted as

[19:57] saying that the Small Business

[19:58] Administration is a rat hole, a billion

[20:01] dollar waste. Do you think that's a fair

[20:05] characterization of the Small Business

[20:06] Administration?

[20:07] >> Well, I think I would stop at the

[20:09] billion dollar waste.

[20:11] >> So, I think there's a real arrogance in

[20:14] that answer,

[20:16] and I think the public has noted that

[20:18] arrogance in many other answers. And let

[20:20] me tell you, I think you're taking a lot

[20:21] of heat for this administration. So, I

[20:23] think you've been a heat shield in a lot

[20:25] of respects. I know you're getting tired

[20:27] of taking the heat, and frankly, I don't

[20:29] blame you.

[20:29] >> Senators bragged about success stories

[20:31] like Apple Computers, Federal Express,

[20:34] and the Fluff Company of Goodletsville,

[20:36] Tennessee. All of which were born of SBA

[20:39] loans.

[20:39] >> That they lose that authority. Then

[20:41] there'd be no hope for the entrepreneurs

[20:44] who might want to open a flapo mop

[20:46] company. There may not have been a flapo

[20:49] mop company, but there would have been a

[20:51] mop flop company. A lot of other people

[20:53] start businesses without an SBA loan.

[20:56] They get a bank loan.

[20:57] >> But among senators, the political

[20:58] resistance to killing SBA seemed

[21:00] overwhelming.

[21:01] >> You're going to lose.

[21:04] Not because I've got the votes,

[21:06] because I've got the case.

[21:08] >> M. Compton, ABC News, Capitol Hill.

[21:10] Still on the subject of budget cutting,

[21:12] the White House has warned again that

[21:14] the current congressional plan to aid

[21:15] the farmers is too costly. The

[21:18] president, we are told again, will veto

[21:19] the farm assistance bill if it is not

[21:21] changed. Mr. Reagan today did give

[21:23] farmers an extra month to apply for

[21:25] government aid. With all of the lobbying

[21:27] on Capitol Hill and protests like the

[21:29] one in Ames, Iowa yesterday, we've had a

[21:32] fairly bleak picture of the farmer's

[21:34] fortunes. ABC's Barry Sarafan has been

[21:36] looking at the overall picture.

[21:40] The increasingly frequent farm auction

[21:42] sales and foreclosures are signs of

[21:44] wrenching financial problems for

[21:45] thousands of farmers. Many who bet on

[21:47] the boom times of the 1970s now find

[21:49] themselves dangerously in debt and

[21:51] priced out of the world market. But not

[21:53] all farmers are in trouble. 1.7 million

[21:56] of the nearly 2 million Americans who

[21:58] operate farms are small or part-time

[22:00] farmers, many with outside incomes. It's

[22:03] generally the medium-siz farms that are

[22:05] being squeezed. There are 679,000 of

[22:08] those. A year ago, 26% of them face

[22:11] serious financial problems or worse,

[22:13] according to the Department of

[22:14] Agriculture. Now, the number has jumped

[22:16] to 34%. 229,000 farms in trouble. But a

[22:21] lot of our food is produced by large

[22:23] operators who can ride out the storm. 1%

[22:26] of this country's farms account for 30%

[22:28] of farm sales. And if smaller farms go

[22:31] under,

[22:32] >> the failing farms are going to have

[22:35] essentially no impact on the supply of

[22:38] food and fiber produced in the country

[22:40] this year or next year and hence no

[22:44] measurable impact on the price of food

[22:47] to the American consumer.

[22:49] >> The worst problems are in the cornbt and

[22:51] upper Midwest among grain farmers,

[22:53] especially young farmers who bowed

[22:55] heavily to get into the business.

[22:56] According to one study, the average

[22:58] farmer in the Midwest under the age of

[23:00] 35 owes $63 for every $100 he owns in

[23:04] land and equipment. But for the most

[23:06] part, the land and equipment being sold

[23:08] off by those who fail is being bought

[23:10] and put back to use by larger, more

[23:12] efficient, high-tech farm operators. Big

[23:15] does not necessarily mean the end of the

[23:17] family farm. 97% are still familyowned.

[23:20] But experts like Marvin Duncan say there

[23:22] is no way to prevent many overextended

[23:24] or inefficient farms from going under.

[23:27] >> I think it is inevitable. I think there

[23:30] is a great deal of similarity between

[23:32] what is happening in agriculture and

[23:33] what has been happening in the steel

[23:35] industry and the auto industry.

[23:37] >> If Duncan and others are right, the

[23:39] debate here in Washington over farm aid

[23:41] is not so much over whether there will

[23:43] be a restructuring of agriculture in

[23:45] this country, but how quickly and

[23:47] painfully it will come. Barry Sarapin,

[23:50] ABC News, Washington.

[23:52] >> One last note from Washington. At the

[23:53] State Department today, tribute to the

[23:55] man they called the ultimate diplomat.

[23:57] Henry Kat Lodge died last night at his

[23:59] home in Beverly, Massachusetts. He had

[24:01] spent half a century in public life, US

[24:04] senator, vice presidential candidate, US

[24:06] ambassador to Saigon during the years

[24:08] the US presence grew so dramatically.

[24:11] Ambassador Lodge was 82. We also note

[24:14] this evening the death of a young man

[24:15] who was spent almost six years in a

[24:17] coma. It did not look like a terribly

[24:20] bad fall for the Italian skier Leonardo

[24:22] Davided almost at the finish line in

[24:24] Lake Placid during the pre-Olympic

[24:26] trials in 1979. But Davidid went into a

[24:29] coma and he never came out of it. He

[24:31] died late on Tuesday and he was 24.

[24:37] Your days go by fast. Your work never

[24:42] seems to end.

[24:43] >> That's why Whirlpool washers and dryers

[24:45] are designed to make your world a little

[24:47] easier. They have a super wash cycle for

[24:50] the dirtiest dirt and a gentle cycle for

[24:52] your delicate knits. Whirlpool quality

[24:55] appliances.

[24:56] >> We're making

[24:58] a little easier.

[25:08] You'd love to buy a new house, but you

[25:10] can't find a buyer for the house you're

[25:12] in. So, you're trapped, locked in,

[25:18] caught in a house you can't sell.

[25:23] That's why you need the seller security

[25:25] plan from ERRA Real Estate. If we don't

[25:28] sell your house, we'll buy it. There is

[25:31] a difference in real estate companies.

[25:33] Erra Real Estate, a part of the

[25:35] Commercial Credit Financial Network.

[25:38] >> When I go to an oriental restaurant, I

[25:40] want to order everything. But I don't

[25:42] want to make a pig of myself in public.

[25:44] Now that Benihana has introduced eight

[25:46] frozen restaurant classics, I have all

[25:49] the oriental food I want right in my own

[25:51] home. Like sirloin pepper steak, chicken

[25:54] with mushrooms, oriental vegetables with

[25:57] shrimp. I used to love eating out, now I

[26:00] love eating in. Benny Hana frozen

[26:02] oriental restaurant classics. We were

[26:04] either going to make them great or we

[26:06] weren't going to make them at all.

[26:08] >> Tonight on 2020, bringing up babies,

[26:10] >> five to be exact. We'll examine the joy

[26:13] and pain of living with quintuplets.

[26:15] >> Plus, Vietnam vets relive their pride

[26:16] and anguish as they return to Vietnam.

[26:18] >> We are patriots number one. That's what

[26:20] the American people have to remember.

[26:22] Watch 2020 tonight.

[26:26] >> Finally, this evening, we have the story

[26:27] of a successful hoax. We've all heard

[26:29] those stories about some young child who

[26:31] writes a heartwarming letter to a

[26:32] celebrity and gets an equally

[26:34] heartwarming response. In a way, this is

[26:37] one of those stories, but with something

[26:38] of a twist. Here's ABC's Ken Kashawara.

[26:42] Once upon a time, John Raymond decided

[26:44] to write a book about famous people with

[26:46] unusual names. So, he wrote letters to

[26:48] them, not as a 53-year-old writer, but

[26:51] as a 9-year-old child, saying he was

[26:53] stuck with the same name and telling

[26:55] them,

[26:55] >> "Hey, the kids punched me at school. I

[26:57] got a lousy name. I got your name.

[26:59] >> 300 people responded. Actor Charlton H,

[27:02] for example, sent an autographed picture

[27:04] to the fictitious 9-year-old Charlton

[27:06] Fox saying, "As a child, he was called

[27:09] Charlotte." He wrote to Indian Prime

[27:11] Minister Indira Gandhi posing as Indira

[27:13] Fox. She told him, "If you don't like

[27:15] your name, have it changed." Filmmaker

[27:18] Ingmar Bergman told him,

[27:19] >> "My friends call me Ingmar. Sometimes I

[27:22] feel very much like punching people. Not

[27:24] only feel, I do it. Have a good time."

[27:26] He told Casper Weinberger that

[27:28] Weineberger was the only other Casper

[27:29] he'd ever heard of. Weinberger sent an

[27:31] autographed picture to my friend Casper

[27:34] Fox and reminded him that Casper was one

[27:36] of the three wise men. But then along

[27:38] came Senator Alant Damato who discovered

[27:41] the same letter was being sent to other

[27:43] well-known people. So he wrote to Alance

[27:46] Fox.

[27:46] >> I sympathize with your problem, but it's

[27:49] not your biggest problem. Your biggest

[27:51] problem is that if I ever get a hold of

[27:53] you, I'll break your neck.

[27:59] But that didn't stop the sly fox. After

[28:02] all, Oral Roberts sent him an engraved

[28:04] Bible and a book entitled Don't Give Up.

[28:07] Raymond says he hopes children with

[28:09] unusual names will be encouraged by all

[28:11] this and of course hopes his book will

[28:13] bring in

[28:14] >> make me some bucks

[28:15] >> and publicity too. Ken Koswahara, ABC

[28:18] News, San Francisco.

[28:21] >> Certainly got some of that here. That's

[28:22] our report on World News Tonight. I'm

[28:23] Peter Jennings. for everyone at ABC

[28:25] News. Good night.

[28:32] >> Thursday.

[28:33] >> What do you say, neighbor?

[28:34] >> Vouchi Acroy. Neighbors. Parental

[28:38] discretion advised. Then on 2020,

[28:41] bringing up babies. Barbara Walter

[28:43] shares the joys and pains of living with

[28:45] quintuplets. All starting at 8:7

[28:47] central. Tonight

[28:49] when the bell rings,