World News Tonight (ABC) - 1982-08-12

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Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] [music]

[0:04] >> From ABC, this is World News Tonight

[0:07] with Peter Jennings [music] reporting

[0:08] from Beirut.

[0:09] >> It was a day of very heavy raids here in

[0:12] Beirut. It only stopped after the

[0:15] Israeli government heard of President

[0:16] Reagan's anger.

[0:18] >> Max Robinson [music] at the national

[0:20] desk in Chicago.

[0:21] >> Actor Henry Fonda has died of heart

[0:23] disease at the age of 77. We'll look

[0:25] back on his long and remarkable career.

[0:28] >> And for the vacationing Frank Reynolds

[0:30] from our desk in Washington. [music]

[0:32] >> Ted Koppel.

[0:34] Good evening. Those negotiations to get

[0:35] the PLO out of West Beirut were

[0:37] interrupted today when Israeli

[0:39] fighter-bombers mounted one of the

[0:40] heaviest assaults yet on that battered

[0:43] Lebanese city.

[0:44] Once again, the falling bombs over

[0:46] Beirut produced shock waves here in

[0:48] Washington. White House correspondent

[0:50] Sam Donaldson has the story.

[0:53] >> White House officials say President

[0:54] Reagan was shocked when he learned of

[0:55] today's heavy Israeli bombardment of

[0:57] West Beirut, and shortly after 10:00

[0:59] a.m. he placed a call to Israeli Prime

[1:01] Minister Begin. Already, Ambassador

[1:03] Habib had reported that the bombing had

[1:04] terminated his negotiations for

[1:06] evacuation of the PLO. And while the

[1:09] President waited, Saudi Arabian King

[1:11] Fahd telephoned him to express his

[1:13] concern. At 11:10, with Secretary of

[1:15] State Shultz looking on, the President

[1:17] began talking to Prime Minister Begin.

[1:19] White House officials say that in an

[1:20] unmistakably angry tone, Mr. Reagan

[1:23] expressed his outrage over Israel's

[1:25] massive military action. That he told

[1:27] Begin that it halted Habib's work just

[1:29] when it was at the point of success.

[1:31] That the result had been needless

[1:32] destruction and bloodshed. Officials say

[1:35] the President made no direct threats,

[1:37] but told Begin that the relationship

[1:38] between their two countries was at stake

[1:40] over this matter. 20 minutes later,

[1:42] Begin called back to say his cabinet had

[1:44] ordered a complete cease-fire. The

[1:46] President told him it must hold, and a

[1:48] senior official here says the President

[1:50] believes he has Begin's commitment to

[1:51] see that it does.

[1:53] Behind today's decision to talk tough

[1:55] and go public about it was a growing

[1:57] suspicion here that the Israeli

[1:58] government wanted to torpedo the talks

[2:00] in order to be free to wipe out the PLO.

[2:03] And that the president had to stop that,

[2:05] or it would be widely believed the

[2:06] United States had secretly endorsed such

[2:08] a move. So, Mr. Reagan took off the

[2:10] gloves. And whereas Prime Minister Begin

[2:13] recently boasted that Israel would never

[2:14] be dictated to like a banana republic,

[2:17] officials here expect there'll be no

[2:18] more such talk as that as a result of

[2:20] today's conversations.

[2:22] Sam Donaldson, ABC News, the White

[2:24] House.

[2:25] >> This is Bill Seamans. The massive

[2:27] bombing of West Beirut ordered by

[2:28] Defense Minister Sharon will not happen

[2:30] again without the prior personal

[2:32] approval of Prime Minister Begin. This

[2:34] decision was made in a special cabinet

[2:36] session 2 hours before Begin received

[2:39] that phone call from President Reagan,

[2:41] according to a high government source,

[2:43] because most cabinet ministers felt that

[2:45] the bombing was hurting Israel more than

[2:47] the PLO.

[2:49] Just hours before Begin was involved in

[2:51] a fiery parliamentary debate over his

[2:53] Lebanon policies that saw a member of

[2:55] the small communist faction thrown out

[2:57] when his protest against the invasion

[2:59] got out of hand. Begin said great

[3:01] progress had been made in the Habib

[3:03] negotiations.

[3:04] Leaks from the cabinet session describe

[3:06] it as a showdown battle between Begin

[3:08] and Sharon restricting Sharon's power to

[3:11] use the air force. Up to now, Sharon has

[3:14] been able to order military actions

[3:16] without prior cabinet approval.

[3:18] A high government source told ABC News

[3:20] tonight that the cabinet decision was a

[3:22] turning point in the conduct of the war.

[3:25] According to this source, Begin told

[3:27] Sharon that if he did not comply with

[3:29] the government resolution, his fate

[3:31] would be like Ezer Weizman's. Weizman

[3:34] resigned as defense minister over 2

[3:36] years ago after opposing Begin policies.

[3:39] Sharon reportedly argued that only

[3:41] maximum force could minimize Israeli

[3:43] casualties and keep the PLO at the

[3:45] negotiating table. Tonight, the Foreign

[3:48] Ministry spokesman said that Israel had

[3:50] been officially informed by the US that

[3:52] the Habib talks have not been suspended.

[3:55] And a source close to Prime Minister

[3:56] Begin said that Israel will do

[3:58] everything possible to save the talks.

[4:00] It's now up to the PLO. Bill Seamans,

[4:02] ABC News, Tel Aviv.

[4:05] >> Peter Jennings is back in East Beirut

[4:07] tonight. Here's his report from there.

[4:09] Peter?

[4:10] >> Ted, for yet another day the Israelis

[4:12] have kept very heavy military pressure

[4:14] on West Beirut. There's been intense

[4:16] bombing and shelling for most of the

[4:17] day.

[4:18] The air raids are among the heaviest in

[4:20] almost 2 weeks.

[4:21] The Israelis insist they won't give the

[4:23] Palestinians a chance to change their

[4:24] minds about leaving Lebanon.

[4:26] Palestinians say Israel's aim is simply

[4:29] destruction, that Israel doesn't want a

[4:31] political settlement. The Lebanese

[4:33] government fears that any negotiated

[4:34] settlement could be derailed by the

[4:36] persistent violence.

[4:38] As ABC's Jack Smith reports from the

[4:40] western sector, there was no letup even

[4:42] through the night.

[4:46] The Israeli air raids began here at

[4:48] daybreak.

[4:52] 60 sorties in the first 5 hours of

[4:55] bombing, according to the joint Muslim

[4:56] PLO command here. It was the most

[4:58] sustained aerial bombardment since the

[5:00] siege began. Syrian and PLO gunners

[5:03] fired back, but they scored no hits.

[5:06] The Israeli jets bombed Syrian and

[5:08] Palestinian positions in the south of

[5:09] the city. There was also shelling. Many

[5:12] parts of the central city were attacked

[5:13] as well. Terrified civilians ran for

[5:16] their lives to take cover anywhere they

[5:18] could find. Beirut radio said the number

[5:20] of civilian [music] casualties early on

[5:22] was impossible to estimate. Hospitals in

[5:24] many parts of town had to put patients

[5:26] in basement shelters. The Al Barbeer

[5:28] hospital was hit by Israeli shells, and

[5:31] doctors there said they could no longer

[5:32] keep the hospital open.

[5:34] During the bombing this morning,

[5:36] Lebanese Prime Minister Shafiq Wazzan

[5:38] sped over to East Beirut. He and other

[5:41] Lebanese leaders met there with US envoy

[5:43] Philip Habib to consider the latest

[5:45] demands laid out by Israel. Only one of

[5:47] them is considered a problem here.

[5:49] Lebanese cabinet minister Marwan Hamadi

[5:52] says Israel's continued insistence that

[5:54] the multinational peacekeeping force

[5:56] cannot arrive until the bulk of the PLO

[5:58] has already left just won't work.

[6:01] >> Do you imagine

[6:04] Mr. Arafat just getting into his car,

[6:07] putting the ignition, and going up the

[6:09] road through Israeli lines without any

[6:12] kind of international protection or

[6:15] guarantee? This is nonsense.

[6:17] >> While the talking continues, civilians

[6:19] here are living underground praying for

[6:21] the bombing to end. Muslim leaders here

[6:23] say the PLO was ready to leave this

[6:25] Saturday. They say that Israel's latest

[6:28] demands will now delay the evacuation

[6:30] till at least Monday or Tuesday and

[6:32] subject civilians here to several more

[6:34] days of bombardment. Jack Smith, ABC

[6:36] News, inside West Beirut.

[6:39] >> Here at home, bankruptcies are running

[6:41] almost double last year's rate with

[6:43] alarming consequences for everyone. That

[6:45] story still ahead, as well as a stormy

[6:48] homecoming for the nation's first

[6:49] Trident submarine, and news of Henry

[6:51] Fonda's death, and a look back on a

[6:53] career which touched us all.

[6:57] >> ABC's World News Tonight brought to you

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[8:02] >> For more than half a century, Henry

[8:04] Fonda captured the essence of the strong

[8:06] but gentle American hero. That's how he

[8:08] was thought of even recent months when

[8:10] his battle with chronic heart disease

[8:12] was no secret. Today Henry Fonda died of

[8:14] heart failure at the age of 77. Stephen

[8:17] Geer reports.

[8:19] When Henry Fonda died this morning at

[8:21] Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, his

[8:23] children were en route to the hospital.

[8:25] Later, outside the actor's home, his

[8:27] daughters Jane and Amy and his son Peter

[8:30] were with Shirley Fonda, who was at her

[8:32] husband's bedside when he died.

[8:35] >> Henry died this morning

[8:37] at 5 minutes to 8.

[8:39] He died comfortably. He was in no pain.

[8:43] He had a very good night the night

[8:44] before, talked all of us,

[8:46] was never unconscious at any time.

[8:50] He woke up this morning, sat up in bed,

[8:53] and quietly just stopped breathing.

[8:56] >> Mrs. Fonda said there will be no

[8:57] services at his request, and she asked

[9:00] that in lieu of flowers, contributions

[9:02] be sent to the Omaha Playhouse, where he

[9:04] began his legendary 60-year acting

[9:06] career.

[9:07] Jane Fonda attended the Omaha Playhouse

[9:10] premiere of On Golden Pond. Her father

[9:12] was too ill. For 8 years, he wore a

[9:15] pacemaker, and when he gave his last

[9:17] interview after winning the Academy

[9:18] Award for his portrayal of a man dying

[9:21] of heart disease, he was very weak. We

[9:23] asked Henry Fonda which film he felt was

[9:25] his greatest.

[9:27] >> Well, I'm going to have a hard time

[9:30] forgetting On Golden Pond now, I'll tell

[9:33] you.

[9:34] But, uh

[9:38] I produced

[9:40] uh 12 Angry Men.

[9:45] So, I'm proud of it on

[9:48] more than one level.

[9:50] >> Today, Jimmy Stewart, who was a

[9:51] struggling young actor in 1932, shared a

[9:54] hotel room in New York with Henry Fonda,

[9:57] paid tribute to his colleague.

[9:59] >> Well, I I've lost my best friend. That's

[10:03] number one.

[10:05] Uh

[10:07] I think

[10:08] people all over the world have lost

[10:12] what I think is the finest actor in the

[10:14] world

[10:15] has been the finest actor in the world

[10:17] today.

[10:18] >> Stephen Geer, ABC News, Hollywood.

[10:22] >> Another old colleague of Henry Fonda

[10:24] paid tribute to him today. President

[10:26] Reagan said he was deeply saddened.

[10:28] Fonda, he said, graced the screen with a

[10:30] sincerity and accuracy which made him a

[10:32] legend.

[10:33] John Martin looks back on Fonda's career

[10:36] and the scores of unforgettable

[10:37] characters he brought into our lives.

[10:41] >> [music]

[10:44] >> He played heroes in many of his nearly

[10:46] 90 movies, men who fought injustice.

[10:49] >> Hanging a murderer is one thing, but to

[10:51] keep guys you don't know for sure did

[10:52] it, stand around sweating while you

[10:53] shoot your mouth off. That's

[10:54] >> Men who did the right thing or stood for

[10:57] principle.

[10:58] >> Two great cities may be destroyed.

[11:00] Millions of innocent people killed. What

[11:02] do we say to them, Mr. Chairman?

[11:03] Accidents will happen? I won't accept

[11:05] that.

[11:06] >> But he didn't start that way.

[11:08] Henry Fonda learned his craft on the

[11:10] stage, in Omaha and Cape Cod and on

[11:13] Broadway. And in his earliest roles, he

[11:15] played awkward young men.

[11:18] The Farmer Takes a Wife was his first

[11:20] movie in 1935 with Janet Gaynor.

[11:23] In 1939, he played a lawyer who would be

[11:26] president. [music]

[11:27] >> I've been solicited by many friends to

[11:30] to a candidate for the legislature.

[11:32] >> [music]

[11:34] >> My politics are short and sweet

[11:37] like the old woman's dance. [music]

[11:40] >> Later, Fonda's characters made bolder

[11:42] statements of political principle. It

[11:44] became his trademark. In 1940, he played

[11:47] a young Oklahoman displaced by dust and

[11:50] the depression and driven to

[11:52] California's farm labor camps.

[11:55] There, powerful growers exploited their

[11:57] workers and accused anybody who

[11:59] complained of being a communist.

[12:01] >> Listen, what is these reds anyway?

[12:04] Every time you turn around, somebody

[12:05] calls somebody else a red.

[12:08] >> In World War II, Fonda served in the

[12:10] Navy in the Pacific. And when he

[12:12] returned to Broadway in 1948, he was

[12:15] wearing the same cap he wore overseas,

[12:17] playing a young lieutenant fighting a

[12:19] cool superior. In 1955, he made the

[12:22] movie.

[12:23] >> You know, how did you ever get command

[12:24] of a ship?

[12:25] >> I realize in wartime they had to scrape

[12:27] the bottom of the barrel. Where they

[12:28] ever scrape you up?

[12:29] >> Henry Fonda got up his nerve in Mr.

[12:32] Roberts. He stood up for all the

[12:34] enlisted sailors and soldiers who have

[12:36] ever been tyrannized in war by their own

[12:38] officers.

[12:39] >> [music]

[12:39] >> Good night, Mr. Roberts.

[12:41] >> Good night, Mr. Roberts.

[12:42] >> Good night, Mr. Roberts.

[12:44] >> Henry Fonda produced only one movie

[12:46] himself. The subject, Trial by Jury. He

[12:50] played the one juror who held out

[12:52] against convicting a young man accused

[12:54] of murder.

[12:55] >> Ever since you walked into this room,

[12:56] you've been acting like a self-appointed

[12:58] public avenger. You want to see this boy

[13:00] die because you personally want it, not

[13:01] because of the facts.

[13:02] >> It was the idea of taking responsibility

[13:05] for what happened around you, something

[13:07] Fonda carried into his personal life. He

[13:09] married five times and said he was

[13:12] ashamed of the four failures, even

[13:14] though they gave him his children, Jane

[13:16] and Peter, the actors, and Amy, an

[13:19] adopted daughter.

[13:20] Jane and Peter seemed rebellious for a

[13:22] time, but in recent years the Fondas

[13:25] openly expressed their love and

[13:27] affection for each other.

[13:29] >> What my father did

[13:32] was uh always remain true to himself

[13:35] even when it wasn't particularly

[13:36] fashionable.

[13:42] >> As a kind of gift for her father, Jane

[13:44] produced On Golden Pond with Katharine

[13:47] Hepburn as Henry Fonda's wife and Jane

[13:49] herself as his daughter. Henry Fonda

[13:52] played an aging retired professor as

[13:55] irascible and moody as Fonda seemed at

[13:57] times in real life, a role he called the

[14:00] best he'd ever had.

[14:01] >> I've been trying all day to draw some

[14:05] profound conclusion about living

[14:07] fourscore years

[14:09] and thought of anything.

[14:11] >> It won him a Golden Globe Award and an

[14:13] Academy Award, his first for a specific

[14:16] role in 47 years of making films.

[14:21] But by then he was too sick to accept

[14:23] the Oscar. So Jane accepted it for him

[14:26] and brought it home to him.

[14:28] Some critics said Golden Pond could

[14:30] become his masterpiece. But for anybody

[14:33] who survived America's Great Depression,

[14:36] there will always be this masterpiece.

[14:38] Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad speaking for

[14:42] millions of Americans suffering hunger

[14:44] and abuse.

[14:45] >> Wherever there's a fight so hungry

[14:47] people can eat,

[14:49] I'll be there.

[14:51] Wherever there's a cop beating up a guy,

[14:54] I'll be there.

[14:56] >> Fonda was always there, it seemed, when

[14:58] authority was being abused.

[15:01] Near the end, despite his shyness, he

[15:03] knew he was loved by his industry and

[15:06] his public.

[15:07] Four years ago, the American Film

[15:09] Institute.

[15:11] >> [music]

[15:12] >> Last year, a special Academy Award for

[15:15] lifetime achievement.

[15:18] And the year before, the Kennedy Center

[15:21] midshipmen saluting Mr. Roberts.

[15:23] >> Thank you, Mr. Roberts.

[15:25] >> Special tributes to a shy, humble man

[15:28] who spoke for the best in all of us.

[15:32] John Martin, ABC News, New York.

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[17:16] >> The nation's first Trident

[17:18] the USS Ohio, arrived for duty today at

[17:20] its new home base in Bangor, Washington.

[17:22] The event was marked with both

[17:24] traditional Navy pomp, as well as a

[17:26] flotilla of anti-war demonstrators. Tom

[17:28] Shell reports.

[17:31] >> The confrontation began at first light

[17:33] as the Coast Guard moved in early to

[17:35] prevent a flotilla of small boats from

[17:36] interfering with the progress of the

[17:38] submarine.

[17:39] 11 people aboard a 40-ft trimaran were

[17:42] arrested more than an hour before the

[17:43] USS Ohio moved past en route to its home

[17:46] base at Bangor, Washington. The Ohio is

[17:49] the first in a new class of submarines.

[17:51] It's twice the size of any other US sub

[17:53] and carries 24 Trident missiles, each

[17:56] packing up to eight warheads, giving a

[17:58] Trident more than 10 times the power of

[18:00] a Polaris class sub. Still, the anti-war

[18:03] protesters tried to slow it down, but

[18:05] the Coast Guard was equal to the

[18:07] challenge. Some of the protesters

[18:09] accused the Coast Guard of overkill and

[18:11] said the protest made its point.

[18:13] >> Was there ever any doubt what was going

[18:15] to happen here today? We won.

[18:17] >> But this was as close as they came to

[18:18] the sub. One small boat got through the

[18:20] picket line of Coast Guard cutters and

[18:22] got within 100 ft of the Ohio. The boat,

[18:25] the Plowshares, was finally stopped, and

[18:27] one woman protester jumped overboard.

[18:29] She was later rescued by her companions.

[18:34] >> [music]

[18:38] >> When the Ohio finally made it into port,

[18:40] it was 40 minutes ahead of schedule, and

[18:43] the sub and crewmen received a much

[18:44] warmer welcome.

[18:46] Tom Shell, ABC News, Bangor, Washington.

[18:50] >> In other news, authorities in Honolulu

[18:52] today called in bomb experts from the

[18:54] FBI in Washington in an effort to find

[18:56] the cause of an explosion aboard a Pan

[18:58] Am 747 jetliner yesterday. The blast,

[19:01] which had little effect on the plane's

[19:02] exterior, ripped through the passenger

[19:04] section, killing one person and injuring

[19:06] 15 others.

[19:07] Salvador Sanchez, the WBC featherweight

[19:10] champion, died early this morning in a

[19:12] car crash in Mexico. Sanchez's sports

[19:14] car hit two trucks on a highway 145

[19:18] miles north of Mexico City. Considered

[19:20] one of the most promising young fighters

[19:22] in boxing, Sanchez had 43 victories and

[19:24] only one loss. He was 23 years old.

[19:34] >> [music]

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[20:38] >> Big jeans, small jeans, little jeans,

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[20:41] you. Style, fashion, and good taste.

[20:43] Kmart is your saving place.

[20:45] Challenger jeans, a premium brand. Twill

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[21:02] Get [music] set to beat the high price

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[21:06] >> [music]

[21:07] >> We asked Eleanor Bailey if she thought

[21:09] her denture cleanser could clean away

[21:11] cherry stain.

[21:12] >> I would imagine so.

[21:13] >> What about a stain of cherry and tea?

[21:15] >> I don't think so.

[21:16] >> Or a triple stain of cherry, tea, and

[21:18] tobacco?

[21:19] >> be very skeptical.

[21:20] >> Then watch extra strength Efferdent go

[21:22] to work on a triple stain of cherry,

[21:24] tea, and tobacco with Efferdent's

[21:26] powerful blue action formula.

[21:29] >> Efferdent cleaned the triple stain in

[21:30] between. I'm going home and use

[21:32] Efferdent.

[21:33] >> Extra strength Efferdent removes even

[21:35] stubborn stains between teeth.

[21:39] >> In Congress today, a major setback for

[21:41] Interior Secretary James Watt. The House

[21:44] voted to outlaw Watt's plan to lease

[21:46] federal wilderness areas for oil and

[21:48] mineral exploration. That bill, which

[21:50] covers more than 34 million acres of

[21:53] federal land, will now go to the Senate.

[21:55] Max.

[21:56] >> One sign of the nation's economic

[21:58] problems is the alarming rate of

[21:59] bankruptcies. Just last week alone, 512

[22:03] businesses filed for bankruptcy, almost

[22:05] double the number from the same period

[22:07] last year. Since January, more than

[22:09] 14,000 businesses have gone under, the

[22:12] highest number since the depression. And

[22:14] as economics editor Dan Cordtz explains,

[22:16] it's not just small businesses that are

[22:18] winding up in big trouble.

[22:21] >> Sanford Sigoloff has made a fortune as a

[22:23] highly paid management expert hired to

[22:25] revive sick corporations, but he's been

[22:27] eating a lot of modest meals in his Los

[22:29] Angeles office since April when he was

[22:31] called in to breathe life back into the

[22:33] second biggest US firm ever to go

[22:35] bankrupt.

[22:36] Wickes Companies Incorporated was never

[22:38] a household name, but for many years it

[22:41] ran a successful chain of lumber and

[22:43] building supply outlets, department

[22:44] stores, furniture stores, and a variety

[22:47] of other businesses with annual sales of

[22:49] $4 billion.

[22:51] Three months ago, Wickes got famous the

[22:53] hard way. Facing sky-high interest

[22:55] payments on its $600 million debt, and

[22:58] with most of its businesses crushed by

[22:59] the recession, Wickes filed under

[23:01] chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Act, which

[23:04] lets the company stop paying its

[23:05] creditors and keep operating temporarily

[23:08] while Sigoloff seeks a way to keep all

[23:10] or part of the business alive.

[23:12] >> The company could not deal with

[23:15] the backdrop in the country of high

[23:18] interest rates and poor business and

[23:20] still survive.

[23:21] >> Sigoloff, nicknamed Ming the Merciless,

[23:23] fired 4,500 of his 45,000 employees, but

[23:27] it's still not clear that he can save

[23:29] Wickes. And the company's plight

[23:31] symbolizes a new and ominous

[23:32] development, a wave of bankruptcies

[23:35] among large established companies. In

[23:37] the past 2 years, 137 such companies

[23:40] have failed, including White Motor,

[23:42] Mansfield Tire, Sea-Land Lines, Bobby

[23:45] Brooks, Lionel, Saxon Industries,

[23:47] McLouth Steel, Itel, Sambo's

[23:50] Restaurants, and most recently Braniff.

[23:53] Big failures obviously have a big ripple

[23:55] effect. For example, if Wickes were to

[23:57] disappear, its suppliers would lose

[23:59] orders for goods worth a billion and a

[24:01] half dollars a year.

[24:03] >> Now, those goods are produced by

[24:05] thousands of people, maybe hundreds of

[24:07] thousands of people, who are employed by

[24:10] companies that are themselves struggling

[24:11] to stay alive, beat the recession, deal

[24:13] with high interest rates.

[24:15] >> Wickes is so dependent on housing, one

[24:17] of the businesses hardest hit by the

[24:18] slump, there was little the company

[24:20] could do to avoid trouble.

[24:22] Many other firms have ended up here in

[24:24] bankruptcy court because of bad

[24:25] management decisions, but the recession

[24:28] usually played a part then, too. In good

[24:30] times, managers can get by with a lot of

[24:32] mistakes, but in today's harsh economic

[24:34] climate, one major error can be fatal. A

[24:37] case in point is AM International,

[24:39] headquartered in Chicago. Known by the

[24:41] name Addressograph-Multigraph

[24:43] in its golden days, the company was one

[24:45] of the nation's most successful

[24:47] producers of office equipment. But AM

[24:49] waited too long to move into the new

[24:51] electronic technology, and then launched

[24:54] a crash program costing millions just

[24:56] when the sales of its old machines were

[24:58] lagging and the cost of borrowed money

[25:00] was rocketing.

[25:01] >> You put a bad economy on top of that

[25:04] where the base businesses are no longer

[25:06] robust and no longer

[25:08] producing cash to finance things.

[25:11] And you have a situation that

[25:14] that began to be untenable

[25:17] well over a year ago.

[25:18] >> When Freeman took over in February, it

[25:20] was too late. With operating losses and

[25:22] debt both piling up, AM International

[25:25] also filed for bankruptcy under Chapter

[25:27] 11, which means it's 8,000 creditors

[25:29] can't collect half a billion dollars the

[25:31] company owes them. Experts warn that

[25:34] losses like that can make things tougher

[25:36] for surviving companies.

[25:37] >> The lenders become a lot more

[25:40] fickle about who they lend to.

[25:42] And if it becomes a lot harder to borrow

[25:44] from any businesses, then the thing can

[25:48] become a domino

[25:50] effect.

[25:51] >> And much more is at stake than the

[25:53] assets of corporate America. Millions of

[25:55] workers' jobs are also in jeopardy at a

[25:58] time when unemployment is already

[25:59] painfully high. As one major economist

[26:02] puts it, the bankruptcy rate is like the

[26:04] casualty list in an economic war, one

[26:07] that we're losing.

[26:09] Dan Cordtz, ABC News, New York.

[26:16] >> [music]

[26:18] >> You won't believe your eyes. The snappy

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[26:22] Canon crisp, Canon clear. A snap to use.

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[26:42] You're in for a snappy surprise. You

[26:45] won't believe your eyes.

[26:47] >> How do the vitamins in these cereals

[26:48] compare with Total?

[26:50] >> I don't know.

[26:51] >> This shield shows Total has 100% of a

[26:53] day's allowance of nine vitamins and

[26:55] iron.

[26:55] >> Okay.

[26:56] >> Put Total Shield on your cereal to

[26:58] compare vitamins.

[26:59] >> I eat Grapenuts.

[27:03] 25%.

[27:04] Total's a lot higher, but how's it

[27:06] taste?

[27:06] >> Crisp flakes of whole grain wheat.

[27:09] >> Mhm.

[27:10] >> And

[27:12] 100% of nine vitamins. That's the total

[27:16] difference.

[27:17] >> When a car is small and the ride is hard

[27:20] and [music] choppy, it's often called

[27:22] fun to drive.

[27:24] When it's Spartan and homely, it's

[27:26] something like sensible.

[27:28] But when a small car is actually

[27:29] comfortable, [music] even luxurious,

[27:31] efficient, precisely built,

[27:32] well-equipped, and handsome, we call it

[27:38] a Buick.

[27:39] >> Save up to $400 on new '82 Skyhawks now

[27:43] [music] during Buick Value Days.

[27:48] >> Once again, tonight's top story,

[27:50] President Reagan angrily demanded an end

[27:52] to today's fierce Israeli attack on West

[27:54] Beirut. The ceasefire is now in place

[27:56] with an Israeli pledge that only Prime

[27:58] Minister Begin is authorized to break

[28:00] it. Tonight, an edition of ABC News

[28:02] Viewpoint, we'll look at the conflict

[28:04] between the public's right to know and

[28:05] the individual's right to privacy as we

[28:07] focus on ourselves, the media. That's

[28:10] Viewpoint tonight at 11:30, 10:30

[28:12] Central. That's our report for this

[28:14] evening. This is Ted Koppel in

[28:15] Washington. For all of us here at ABC

[28:17] News, good evening.

[28:20] >> Tomorrow on Good Morning America, Bette

[28:22] Davis [music] and Olivia de Havilland

[28:23] remember Henry Fonda.

[28:27] >> Tonight, award-winning 20/20

[28:29] investigates the Army's [music] new $16

[28:32] million helicopter. Will Congress shoot

[28:34] it down? Plus, kids in cars. Can we stop

[28:37] death in the fast lane? And Raquel

[28:39] Welch, [music] she's back, she's hot,

[28:41] she's woman of the year. Tonight.

[28:49] >> On News Watch 2, talk of getting an NFL

[28:51] team for Nashville.