World News Tonight (ABC) - 1999-05-20

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] time. Good night.

[0:05] >> On World News Tonight this Thursday,

[0:07] another school shooting today in Conjur,

[0:10] Georgia.

[0:11] >> And I look back and I saw I saw his gun

[0:13] and I just started running.

[0:15] >> And how to turn a school into a

[0:17] fortress. The largest price fixing case

[0:20] in history today. The price of vitamins

[0:23] and the multi-billion dollar gamble in

[0:25] the name of national defense. It is your

[0:28] money.

[0:34] From ABC News World Headquarters in New

[0:37] York, this is World News Tonight with

[0:40] Peter Jennings.

[0:41] >> Good evening. Add Conjurs, Georgia, to

[0:43] the list of high schools where a young

[0:45] gunman has caused chaos. Another school,

[0:48] another shooting. Six people wounded

[0:50] this time at Heritage High about 20

[0:52] miles east of Atlanta. School was just

[0:54] beginning when a 15-year-old sophomore

[0:57] began shooting near the cafeteria. As

[0:59] the news broke out across the country,

[1:01] so many people were not surprised. Aaron

[1:04] Hayes is in Conjur tonight.

[1:08] >> I want to find my son. Is that where all

[1:10] the kids are? Parents racing to the

[1:12] school found a scene that has become

[1:14] familiar from too many other schools.

[1:20] Children stunned, frightened, in

[1:22] disbelief.

[1:23] >> He's like, "I got shot in the foot." And

[1:24] they're like, "Are you for real?" He's

[1:25] like, "I'm so I can't feel my foot."

[1:27] >> Teachers trying to make sense of chaos.

[1:30] >> Just get on a bus if you're a bus rider

[1:33] and we will get you home.

[1:36] >> Friends said the shooter, a 15-year-old

[1:38] sophomore, had been depressed, talked

[1:40] about suicide. Nathaniel Der talked to

[1:42] him this morning just before classes

[1:44] were to start. was going to his

[1:45] girlfriend broke up with him and he was

[1:47] going to he said he was going to kill

[1:48] himself, but I really didn't believe

[1:50] him.

[1:51] >> Nathaniel left and a few minutes later

[1:53] heard gunshots and saw his friend with a

[1:55] 22 rifle shooting.

[1:57] >> I turned around and I yelled at him,

[1:58] "Why are you doing this?" And he shot

[2:00] the kid next to me.

[2:01] >> He turned around and saw me there. So he

[2:03] pulled a revolver from his side, just

[2:05] pointed at my head and he was standing

[2:07] there aiming at me through the door and

[2:09] I just reached up, grabbed the door and

[2:11] pulled it shut so I couldn't get in.

[2:12] >> Drake Hoy was hit. My first reaction was

[2:15] I didn't think it was real. You know, it

[2:17] sounded like a CO2 gun, something like

[2:20] that. You know, just air.

[2:22] And uh and then I got hit in the foot

[2:25] and I was like, "Wow, this is real."

[2:28] >> Teachers scrambled children into

[2:29] classrooms, but some students chased the

[2:31] shooter outside where they said he

[2:33] dropped to his knees, pulled out a

[2:35] revolver, put it in his mouth, held it

[2:38] there, and then laid it by his side.

[2:40] >> He put the gun by his side. The

[2:42] principal opened the door and asked for

[2:44] the gun and he gave him the gun and

[2:45] started crying and said, "I'm so scared.

[2:46] Oh my god, I'm so scared."

[2:47] >> When a deputy arrived, he apprehended

[2:50] the suspect, handcuffed him, and placed

[2:52] him in the car. Bomb squads moved in,

[2:54] exploded what looked suspicious.

[2:57] A backpack, just books and paper, but

[2:59] they were taking no chances. As for the

[3:02] guns, a law enforcement source tells ABC

[3:04] News the shooter's family owned them.

[3:06] How did the boy get guns into the

[3:08] school? There's a guard on duty here,

[3:10] but no metal detectors. And as in other

[3:13] incidents like this, word there may have

[3:15] been warning signs. Friends say the boy

[3:17] had brought a gun to school once before,

[3:20] but no one reported it. No one thought

[3:22] him capable of what he did today. Aaron

[3:25] Hayes, ABC News, Conjurs, Georgia.

[3:28] >> The shooting today added fuel to the

[3:29] political debate in Washington about

[3:31] putting further controls on people

[3:32] buying guns. Today, the Senate passed an

[3:35] amendment to a juvenile justice bill

[3:37] that will, if it makes it through the

[3:39] House as well, require mandatory

[3:41] background checks for all transactions

[3:43] at gun shows and for anyone trying to

[3:46] claim their own weapon at a pawn shop.

[3:49] Here's ABC's Linda Douglas.

[3:52] As the vote neared, the vice president

[3:54] arrived at the capital and a top

[3:56] official with the National Rifle

[3:57] Association also hurried in. The

[4:00] senators knew with this morning's

[4:01] shootings that the stakes had just gone

[4:03] up again.

[4:05] >> If anything, the actions this morning

[4:07] should have taught us

[4:10] that winking at the NRA and then smiling

[4:13] at the American people just produces

[4:15] more carnage.

[4:17] >> This is a complex problem and that going

[4:20] on a gun control feeding frenzy is not

[4:22] the answer. But Democrats smelled

[4:24] victory so much that they resurrected

[4:26] their proposal defeated just last week,

[4:28] requiring tough background checks on

[4:30] buyers at gun shows. Today, in the wake

[4:32] of the school shootings, all but one

[4:34] Democrat voted to crack down on gun

[4:36] shows and six Republicans broke ranks to

[4:39] vote with them. That left the Senate

[4:41] tied. The vice president cast the

[4:43] tiebreaking vote.

[4:44] >> The vice president votes in the

[4:46] affirmative and the amendment is agreed

[4:48] to. All week, Republican leaders

[4:50] scrambled to come up with a plan that

[4:52] would bring GOP defectors into line, but

[4:55] to no avail.

[4:56] >> I made it clear that I wasn't inclined

[4:58] to switch my position on this, that I

[5:01] was going to vote my conscience.

[5:02] >> Georgia Democrat Max Cleland, who had

[5:04] voted against his party's strict gun

[5:06] show rules, today voted for them. He was

[5:09] swayed by new details in the proposal,

[5:11] but pushed over the top by this

[5:13] morning's shootings. It was the high

[5:14] school shooting in my own backyard in

[5:17] Georgia that really uh made me uh

[5:21] convinced that that was the right thing

[5:23] to do.

[5:23] >> In this stunning week, the Senate

[5:25] approved a sweeping array of gun control

[5:27] measures, including requirements for

[5:29] child safety locks, a ban on possession

[5:32] of assault weapons and clips by minors,

[5:34] requirements for a background check to

[5:36] redeem weapons at pawn shops. The gun

[5:38] control battle now moves to the House

[5:40] where the tide also seems to be turning.

[5:43] GOP House leaders had been sidest

[5:45] stepping the gun control issue, but

[5:46] today they announced that now they will

[5:48] take it up in the next two weeks. Peter,

[5:50] >> thank you very much. Linda Douglas on

[5:52] Capitol Hill this evening. The president

[5:53] praised the Senate today for what he

[5:55] called the common sense of their vote.

[5:57] Mr. Clinton and the first lady went to

[5:59] Littleton, Colorado today. They're

[6:00] meeting this evening with the relatives

[6:02] of the Coline High School victims. And

[6:05] they're also seeing some students as

[6:06] well. Later in the broadcast, does a

[6:09] safe school need to be a prison? And

[6:12] when we come back, a worldwide

[6:14] conspiracy to raise and fix the price of

[6:16] vitamins. And then the billiond dollar

[6:18] laser weapon at best a work in progress

[6:22] using your money.

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[7:42] The Justice Department says today that

[7:44] two companies which provide a large

[7:45] percentage of the world's vitamins have

[7:47] been fixing prices. In fact, it's the

[7:50] largest price fixing case in history.

[7:52] Twothirds of the country uses vitamins

[7:55] and the government says too many are

[7:57] paying too much. In Washington, ABC's

[8:00] Lisa Stark.

[8:02] The conspiracy to fix vitamin prices has

[8:04] gone on since 1990. It affected the cost

[8:07] of vitamin pills purchased by consumers,

[8:10] vitamins used in animal feed, and

[8:12] vitamins used to fortify the food we

[8:15] eat.

[8:15] >> These companies hurt the pocketbook of

[8:18] virtually every American. Anyone who

[8:20] took a vitamin, drank a glass of milk,

[8:23] or had a bowl of cereal.

[8:25] >> The companies involved, Rosh of

[8:27] Switzerland and BASF of Germany, will

[8:30] pay criminal fines of $725 million. The

[8:34] French company, Ron Pulong, was also

[8:37] implicated, but cooperated with

[8:39] investigators and will not be fined. The

[8:42] huge cost to consumers can be measured

[8:44] by what happened to vitamin C. A few

[8:46] years ago, the Chinese began marketing

[8:48] vitamin C in the United States, and the

[8:50] conspirators could no longer control

[8:53] prices. They dropped by 50%. Overall,

[8:57] it's estimated the price fixing cost

[8:59] consumers and businesses hundreds of

[9:01] millions of dollars. The company's

[9:04] troubles are not over. They face dozens

[9:06] of class action suits seeking damages,

[9:09] and the industry continues to be

[9:11] scrutinized. Attorney Robert Silver.

[9:13] that the challenge that remains really

[9:15] is to investigate and find out what

[9:17] other vitamins may have been involved.

[9:19] >> It is unclear if today's settlement will

[9:21] mean a drop in vitamin prices, but the

[9:23] Justice Department says it puts

[9:25] companies on notice not to try this

[9:28] again. Lisa Stark, ABC News, Washington.

[9:32] >> The government today has also charged

[9:33] the Wall Street firm Meil Lynch with

[9:35] participating in a giant commodities

[9:37] price fixing scheme. The government says

[9:39] that Merryill provided financing and

[9:41] advice to a Japanese firm it knew was

[9:44] illegally manipulating the price of

[9:45] copper on the world market. Also on the

[9:48] money tonight, the world produces the US

[9:50] consumes. The trade deficit rose to a

[9:52] record high in March. 19.7 billion. Some

[9:56] economists say the deficit is not

[9:58] entirely bad, at least for now, because

[10:00] demand by American consumers is helping

[10:03] to reinvigorate the world economy. For

[10:05] the first time, an album by a Latin

[10:07] singer has debuted at the top of the

[10:09] mainstream charts. It's from Puerto Rico

[10:12] sensation Ricky Martin. According to the

[10:14] Recording Industry Association of

[10:15] America, sales of Latin music are

[10:18] growing at twice the rate of the overall

[10:20] market. On Wall Street today, the Dow

[10:22] Jones Industrial Average was down more

[10:24] than 20 points to close at 10,866.

[10:28] On the Nasdaq, stocks were down 35

[10:31] points. Everybody, by the way, is doing

[10:33] it. The World Wrestling Federation is

[10:36] the latest company to issue stock,

[10:38] trying to raise money in hopes that its

[10:40] popularity on television will carry over

[10:43] to the market. In our next segment, how

[10:46] does a customs agent decide who to stop

[10:49] and search? Try skin color.

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[12:28] Just a thought. That's what Einstein

[12:31] said. Just a view of the future, two

[12:34] paces ahead. Thinking about me, thinking

[12:38] about you. All the good things a little

[12:40] good thinking can do. Good thinking

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[12:46] Lisa was smiling cuz she could see wings

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[12:59] Just as we were going on the air last

[13:00] night, NATO went back to bombing

[13:02] Belgrade for the first time since it hit

[13:04] the Chinese embassy almost two weeks

[13:06] ago. And as Ron Claybourne reports from

[13:08] Belgrade tonight, once again, there have

[13:11] been mistakes.

[13:13] Today, it was a hospital neurology ward.

[13:15] Three patients and a night watchman

[13:17] dead.

[13:20] >> They're ideal victims for NATO. The

[13:22] health minister said they can't run away

[13:24] or defend themselves or protest. They

[13:26] can't do anything.

[13:28] >> Not far away, glass shattered and doors

[13:30] broken at the residence of the Swedish

[13:32] ambassador.

[13:33] >> NATO said it had hit a nearby military

[13:36] barracks, but that one bomb had gone

[13:38] astray. Anger at NATO runs deep. But now

[13:41] there is another anger, too, against the

[13:43] Serb leadership.

[13:46] The city of Chachukak has been the

[13:47] target of repeated NATO attacks. But

[13:49] more and more people believe President

[13:51] Milosvich is at least partly responsible

[13:54] for what's happened to them. Every day

[13:56] this week, groups of residents calling

[13:58] themselves a people's parliament have

[14:00] gathered at a local town hall asking

[14:03] sharp and critical questions about the

[14:05] war and the government's role in it.

[14:09] >> Mr. President, we appeal to you to stop

[14:11] the war because the price we have paid

[14:13] up till now has been too high. The mayor

[14:15] of Chachuk has demanded that the

[14:17] government remove military equipment

[14:19] from the city and that federal

[14:21] authorities give an accounting of the

[14:22] whereabouts of local soldiers serving in

[14:24] Kosovo. It's a sign that some Serbs are

[14:27] growing weary of the war and those they

[14:30] blame for it. Ron Clayborn, ABC News,

[14:33] Beldre.

[14:34] >> Once again, today the NATO alliance is

[14:36] being pulled in different directions by

[14:38] its own members. Today, it was Italy's

[14:40] prime minister who called for a 3-day

[14:42] pause in the bombing to give diplomacy a

[14:44] chance. The United States is among

[14:47] several NATO countries that will not

[14:48] even consider it. And just one other

[14:50] item, the US has quietly deployed

[14:52] another weapon in the war. It is the

[14:55] AC130 gunship. It flies low and it flies

[14:59] slow. It is basically a platform for

[15:02] some very high-speed guns. The alliance

[15:04] is using them along the border with

[15:06] Albania where the Serbs are reported to

[15:09] be digging in. The NATO is being very

[15:11] cautious trying to keep them away from

[15:13] any Serb anti-aircraft positions.

[15:16] Other news in Washington today, horror

[15:19] stories about the customs service.

[15:21] Testimony before the Congress about

[15:24] racial profiling, a practice that many

[15:26] people say is now all too common. Here's

[15:29] ABC's Jackie Jud.

[15:32] There are 43 telltale signs that are

[15:35] supposed to alert a customs officer to

[15:37] drug suspects. Baggy pants, a ticket

[15:40] paid for by cash, darting eyes. But

[15:42] witnesses at today's hearing alleged the

[15:45] only reason they were taken into custody

[15:47] and strip searched was the color of

[15:49] their skin.

[15:51] >> I was so scared and so embarrassed.

[15:56] It was the most humiliating,

[15:59] degrading thing that I ever had to go

[16:02] through. General Densen was 7 months

[16:05] pregnant when she arrived in Fort

[16:07] Lauderdale from Jamaica. She says she

[16:09] was handcuffed, denied food, and forced

[16:11] to take a laxative to expel suspected

[16:14] drug pellets.

[16:16] >> After they examined it and found

[16:17] nothing, they handed it to me and made

[16:19] me empty it and clean out the bed pan. I

[16:22] was again handcuffed to the bed.

[16:25] Neither woman was found to have any

[16:27] drugs, and statistics seem to support

[16:30] their allegation that race is a

[16:32] significant factor in detaining

[16:34] passengers. Last year, blacks and

[16:37] Hispanics were detained twice as often

[16:39] as white men, even though most drug

[16:41] smugglers are white men. Far more

[16:44] Hispanic men are wrongly searched than

[16:46] any other single group.

[16:48] >> In no instance will we allow racial bias

[16:50] to be tolerated. But Customs

[16:52] Commissioner Raymond Kelly did admit

[16:54] that the treatment of passengers who are

[16:56] searched has been sorely deficient and

[16:58] he is concerned enough that an outside

[17:01] commission is now investigating why

[17:03] certain people are detained and others

[17:05] are not. Jackie Jud, ABC News,

[17:08] Washington.

[17:10] Our regular report when we come back,

[17:11] the return of Star Wars. And we don't

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[19:38] >> Our regular report on how the government

[19:39] uses and sometimes misuses your money

[19:41] tonight is about trying to keep an Air

[19:42] Force program alive when the critics in

[19:45] government say the Air Force is in too

[19:47] much of a hurry. Here's ABC's James

[19:49] Walker.

[19:51] On a mountain top in New Mexico stands

[19:53] the once top secret Starfire optical

[19:56] range. Here, physicists developed a

[19:58] laser that military planners hoped to

[20:01] take into space as part of the $ 32

[20:03] billion Star Wars project to use

[20:06] space-based laser weapons to defend

[20:08] America from enemy missiles. Now, the

[20:11] Air Force dream has fallen from deep

[20:13] space to 40,000 ft to a 747

[20:18] clear to fire. armed with a laser to

[20:21] shoot down an enemy missile.

[20:22] >> It will revolutionize war war fighting

[20:25] when we can reach out and shoot these

[20:26] missiles down at the speed of light.

[20:28] >> It's a $1.6 billion gamble. If it works,

[20:31] the military wants a total of 11 billion

[20:34] to equip seven 747s with lasers. But

[20:38] congressional auditors say the Air Force

[20:40] has been cutting corners on tests to

[20:42] keep the program alive.

[20:44] >> So, the Air Force cheated,

[20:45] >> you could put it that way. Uh they

[20:47] certainly they certainly didn't

[20:48] demonstrate what they have to

[20:50] demonstrate.

[20:50] >> And even if they can fire the laser at

[20:52] 40,000 ft, the Pentagon worries it may

[20:55] not work in wartime. A defense

[20:57] department assessment warned that the

[20:58] laser's effectiveness might be reduced

[21:00] by atmospheric turbulence, enemy

[21:03] countermeasures, or by the location of

[21:05] enemy missile batteries. Simply put, the

[21:08] laser can only fire so far. The question

[21:11] is, will the enemy be able to move its

[21:13] missile launchers beyond that effective

[21:15] range?

[21:16] >> The Air Force has now scheduled more

[21:18] tests, but the head of the program does

[21:20] not believe there should be any further

[21:22] delays.

[21:23] >> You know, we had 28 dead over in in

[21:25] Desert Storm from Scud missile. We don't

[21:28] have time to wait around. You know, we

[21:30] need we need to hurry.

[21:33] >> But it is the Air Force's need to hurry

[21:35] that worries Congress and many in the

[21:37] Pentagon. The airborne laser program is

[21:39] experimental. Rush it, they say, and you

[21:42] risk, like Star Wars, wasting billions

[21:45] of dollars on something that may never

[21:47] work. James Walker, ABC News,

[21:49] Albuquerque.

[21:51] In Germany today, the end of what may be

[21:53] the country's last war crimes trial. A

[21:55] court convicted a 79-year-old former

[21:57] Gustapo agent of assisting in the murder

[22:00] of 17,000 Jews at a concentration camp

[22:03] in Poland in 1943.

[22:06] He was sentenced to 10 years. He's

[22:08] already served a great deal more. In a

[22:11] moment, military strategy for the

[22:14] schools. We'll take a closer look.

[22:19] World News Tonight with Peter Jennings

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[24:01] Julius Caesar received the most famous

[24:03] gift in history.

[24:05] This is why they murdered him.

[24:08] Cleopatra, the most seductive woman who

[24:11] ever lived, comes to ABC Sunday 98

[24:13] central.

[24:18] In a small, rather out of the way

[24:20] Tennessee town the other day, we asked

[24:22] the local police chief how much pressure

[24:23] there was to put a cop in the high

[24:25] school. A lot, he told us. The parents

[24:28] want the security. And it's the same

[24:30] story everywhere in the country where

[24:33] parents have seen a rash of shootings

[24:35] played over and over again on

[24:37] television. Today, the country's largest

[24:39] manufacturer of metal detectors tells us

[24:41] that in the four weeks since the

[24:42] shootings at Coline High, inquiries are

[24:45] up 50%. And one of the largest makers of

[24:48] surveillance cameras tells us inquiries

[24:50] have tripled in the last month. Whatever

[24:54] they decide, a lot of schools won't have

[24:56] the money to spend until the fall. Let's

[24:59] take a closer look tonight at what will

[25:01] be available. Here's ABC's Michelle

[25:03] Norris.

[25:05] >> At the Sandia National Laboratory,

[25:07] engineers have decided to take on a new

[25:09] mission, keeping America's school

[25:11] children safe.

[25:13] >> The National Labs are charged with

[25:15] issues of national security. I'm a

[25:18] parent. I think school safety is

[25:21] national security and very very

[25:23] important.

[25:24] >> Sandia takes proven security strategies

[25:27] from the military and applies them to

[25:30] schools.

[25:31] >> Did you have your John Henry here?

[25:33] >> So much like a military base, there's

[25:35] only one way in and one way out of

[25:38] Berlin High School just outside

[25:40] Albuquerque. Once plagued by vandalism

[25:42] and violence, Berlin officials turned to

[25:45] Sandia for help and developing a

[25:47] comprehensive security plan. A system

[25:49] that cost more than $300,000.

[25:53] >> You guys uh students here.

[25:55] >> Measures that would have seemed extreme,

[25:56] even bizarre just 10 years ago, are now

[25:59] seen as necessary. Even on a suburban

[26:02] campus like this, a mesh fence surrounds

[26:04] the school. High-powered minicams are

[26:06] sprinkled throughout the grounds,

[26:08] allowing the principal to monitor

[26:10] students from his office. And like many

[26:12] other schools, Ben now relies on metal

[26:14] detectors and security guards.

[26:16] >> Been accustomed to like calling it a

[26:18] prison, but I feel a lot safer.

[26:21] >> As we're growing, we need to install

[26:23] some of these security measures in place

[26:25] to ensure that our facility is safe, to

[26:27] ensure that our students are safe.

[26:29] >> And statistics suggest that the school

[26:31] is safer. There are 75% fewer fights on

[26:34] campus and a 90% decrease in vandalism

[26:37] and theft. But even with their success,

[26:39] officials here know that no security

[26:42] system is foolproof.

[26:43] >> If you think that you're going to

[26:44] prevent things from happening 100% uh

[26:48] those things won't prevent it.

[26:50] >> Security experts say that if anything,

[26:52] the recent string of schoolhouse

[26:54] shootings provides one important lesson.

[26:56] Hardware alone won't keep students safe

[26:59] unless schools work harder to identify

[27:02] problems before they explode. Michelle

[27:05] Norris, ABC News, Washington.

[27:08] >> It is a bit strange to hear it, but so

[27:10] many school officials tell us they are

[27:11] holding their breath until the summer

[27:13] break. There is unusual tension at a lot

[27:16] of schools, and we know the media

[27:18] doesn't help always. In Baton Rouge,

[27:20] Louisiana, a radio disc jockey got a

[27:22] call from a fourth grader yesterday who

[27:24] complained on the air about being told

[27:26] to go home for cursing. Listen to what

[27:29] the DJ suggested.

[27:32] >> Why don't you pick up an assault rifle

[27:33] and go back to school, take care of

[27:34] everybody. All right.

[27:36] >> Well, the DJ said he wasn't being

[27:37] serious. The station fired him anyway.

[27:39] The local high school where he also

[27:41] works as a DJ has dropped him, too.

[27:44] That's our report on World News Tonight.

[27:46] Don't forget Night Line Leader. I'm

[27:47] Peter Jennings. Good night.

[28:07] Tomorrow, a TV newscast with a

[28:10] conscience. But is it religious bias?

[28:13] Watch ABC's World News Tonight with

[28:15] Peter Jennings.

[28:17] This has been a presentation of ABC

[28:19] News. More Americans get their news from

[28:21] ABC News than from any other source.

[28:24] abcnews.com now a part of the go network

[28:27] from around the globe.

[28:28] >> Sharon Jackson,

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