CBS Evening News - 1992-04-02
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (YouTube automatic captions)
[0:02] They got it. The real life godfather
[0:04] could be going away for the rest of his
[0:06] life. A startling rise in child abuse,
[0:10] one death every 6 hours, and a must pass
[0:15] test for more and more American workers.
[0:18] This is the CBS Evening News.
[0:26] Good evening, Dan Rather reporting. It
[0:28] took six years and four trials, but
[0:29] today federal prosecutors got a guilty
[0:32] verdict against a rakateeer and murderer
[0:35] who became the country's best known
[0:37] criminal. Jazelle Fernandez reports on
[0:40] the rise and fall of John Gotti and what
[0:42] his conviction may mean on the streets.
[0:45] >> The feds finally did it. They took down
[0:48] America's most notorious mafia boss
[0:50] since Al Capone. Charges of murder,
[0:53] gambling, and racketeering finally stuck
[0:55] to the flashy, flamboyant John Gotti.
[0:58] >> The Teflon is gone. The Dawn is covered
[1:01] with Velcro, and every charge in the
[1:03] indictment stuck.
[1:05] >> For prosecutors, it was a must-win case.
[1:08] The renowned Teflon Dawn had become a
[1:10] kind of folk hero for outsmarting the
[1:12] government three times in the past. Each
[1:14] aqu quiddle a cause for an unabashed
[1:16] celebration.
[1:20] But the luck that once made him a legend
[1:22] finally ran out. This time, prosecutors
[1:24] came armed with lethal weapons. Gotti's
[1:27] right-hand man turned government
[1:29] witness. Sammy the Bull Gravano became
[1:31] the highest ranking gangster ever to
[1:33] break the code of silence and testify
[1:35] against the Kosanostra.
[1:38] In chilling testimony, he described the
[1:39] murder of Big Paul Castellano. How God
[1:42] not only ordered a hit of the former
[1:44] Dawn, but drove by to witness the blood
[1:46] bath himself. Prosecutors also had
[1:48] secret surveillance tapes that showed
[1:50] Gotti as a ruthless crime boss.
[1:55] >> Be an hour from now, be it tonight or
[1:57] 100 years from now, I'm here.
[2:00] >> He himself uh on these tapes,
[2:03] incriminated himself and his associates
[2:07] and confirmed once and for all that
[2:10] there is indeed a Kosanostra, a mafia.
[2:14] The jury, tightly sequestered throughout
[2:15] the trial, was told by the government
[2:17] they had reason to fear the man on the
[2:19] tapes. An angry defense vows to appeal
[2:21] the conviction that John Gotti just
[2:23] smirked at.
[2:24] >> He took it like a real man. Um and and
[2:27] he has vowed that the fight is not over.
[2:29] Ladies and gentlemen,
[2:30] >> my father is the last of Migans. They
[2:32] don't make men like him anymore. They
[2:34] never will.
[2:35] >> On one point, the government agrees.
[2:37] They say John Gotti is the last of a
[2:39] dying breed. The mob as we have known it
[2:43] in New York City and in the United
[2:45] States is on the way out.
[2:47] >> Gotti now faces life in prison. With his
[2:49] conviction, prosecutors have now
[2:51] indicted or convicted four of the
[2:53] nation's top five crime bosses. And
[2:55] that's not the end of it. The informant
[2:57] who testified against Gotti is expected
[2:58] to be the star witness in other upcoming
[3:00] trials. That's what's key here. Never
[3:03] before has the underboss of a major
[3:05] crime family broken the sacred code of
[3:07] silence. It shows just how much the
[3:09] inner structure of organized crime has
[3:11] in fact crumbled. Dan
[3:13] >> Jazelle Fernandis. Thanks. Few crimes
[3:16] are more disgusting than child abuse.
[3:18] Yet, it is on the rise and a new study
[3:20] finds victims are getting younger. Now,
[3:23] most victims are under five. Some
[3:27] haven't even seen their first birthday,
[3:29] and growing numbers aren't living to see
[3:31] their next birthday. I caution you that
[3:34] Bruce Morton's report tonight contains
[3:36] disturbing and graphic evidence of this
[3:40] >> bit at him over the head with a bat.
[3:45] >> And she opened a uh hole like this in
[3:48] the head.
[3:49] >> Olivia Gonzalez telling a Florida court
[3:51] how her lesbian lover Anna Cardona
[3:53] abused Cardona's son Lasso. Gonzalez
[3:56] said both women abused the child, but
[3:57] Cardona, his mother, killed him. Lasso
[4:00] looked like this when he died. He was 3
[4:02] years old.
[4:03] >> If you have a mother who's strung out on
[4:05] cracked cocaine, there's not much else
[4:07] she can care about.
[4:08] >> The National Committee for the
[4:09] Prevention of Child Abuse says reported
[4:11] child abuse fatalities rose by more than
[4:13] 10% last year. Four American kids a day
[4:17] now die. Christopher Riggsby told Carl
[4:20] Springs, Florida police about stomping
[4:21] his girlfriend's boy to death after
[4:23] stepping in the child's excrement.
[4:27] >> Show me what happened. Tell me how you
[4:29] do.
[4:30] Just just like that on his belly.
[4:32] >> Can you say anything to him?
[4:35] >> I said, "Scotty, bad boy."
[4:37] >> Total child abuse is up to 2.6 million
[4:40] reports in 1991. 42 reports for every
[4:44] 1,000 American children, up 6% from a
[4:46] year ago.
[4:47] >> 75% of our kids will tell you my parents
[4:51] had severe alcohol problems or drug, but
[4:56] home was a battlefield. Nancy Lee
[4:58] Matthews runs the Florida branch of
[5:00] Covenant House. Abused children tend to
[5:02] become abusive parents. Covenant House
[5:05] works with young mothers and tries to
[5:06] prevent that.
[5:07] >> Even if lost care, I was hit. But um
[5:11] that's kind of why I'm coming here
[5:14] because of the fact that I don't want to
[5:15] hit my kid.
[5:16] >> Programs like this or home visits by
[5:18] social workers to new parents are the
[5:20] best remedy. The experts say child abuse
[5:22] gets worse when times are hard. Olivia
[5:25] Gonzalez turned states evidence and
[5:27] pleaded guilty to seconddegree murder.
[5:29] Anna Cardona was found guilty of
[5:30] first-degree murder and sentenced to
[5:32] death. Christopher Riggsby drew a
[5:34] 32-year sentence and will probably serve
[5:36] a third of it. None of which solves the
[5:39] problem. Bruce Wharton, CBS News,
[5:41] Washington.
[5:43] >> Aside from the growing link between drug
[5:45] abuse and child abuse, getting high
[5:48] being on narcotics is dangerous business
[5:50] in the workplace. As Rita Braver
[5:53] reports, more and more workers are being
[5:54] put to the test to prove they're clean
[5:56] and sober.
[5:59] >> Employees at the accidental chemical
[6:01] plant in Houston know that keeping their
[6:03] jobs requires not only good work, but
[6:06] also passing drug tests the company
[6:08] administers at random.
[6:10] >> We want to ensure that we're doing
[6:12] everything possible to operate the
[6:14] plants as safely as we can. And a new
[6:16] study of,200 companies by the American
[6:19] Management Association shows that we are
[6:21] becoming a drug testing nation.
[6:24] Threearters of employers surveyed now do
[6:26] some type of testing, up 250% over the
[6:30] last 5 years. There's been a big rise in
[6:32] employers who test job applicants. But
[6:34] by far the most dramatic increase,
[6:37] random testing of current employees, up
[6:39] a whopping 1,000%.
[6:42] Some of that increases due to government
[6:44] requirements that certain transportation
[6:46] and defense industry workers be tested.
[6:48] >> Drivers, pilots, the people who are in
[6:51] safety sensitive positions are mandated
[6:54] to be tested.
[6:55] >> Other companies just think testing is a
[6:57] good idea.
[6:58] >> We hire a cross-section of of from the
[7:01] community. So, it's uh uh realistic to
[7:04] think that the community's problem is
[7:05] also the problem in the workplace.
[7:07] >> Employees we talked to took testing in
[7:09] stride. For me, it was part and parcel
[7:11] of what was expected. And it also shows
[7:14] me that the company is interested in the
[7:16] kinds of people that they hire.
[7:18] >> It's for your own safety really
[7:21] to keep you drug free.
[7:22] >> But civil libertarians say many workers
[7:24] are afraid to complain.
[7:26] >> Well, a lot of people do object to
[7:28] taking the test, but they really don't
[7:29] have any choice. If you don't take the
[7:30] test, you're going to be fired. As for
[7:33] whether the threat of testing has
[7:34] actually cut down drug use by workers,
[7:36] the people who ran this survey say it's
[7:39] just too early to tell. Rita Braver, CBS
[7:42] News, Fairfax, Virginia.
[7:44] >> Still ahead on tonight's CBS Evening
[7:46] News, a disease that was once under
[7:48] control is now spreading rapidly. And
[7:51] Eye on America, the human cost of
[7:53] bringing Noriega to justice.
[8:06] This plant is in trouble.
[8:08] Maybe so are you.
[8:14] Because what will you do? And how will
[8:17] you do it?
[8:23] with the one who guides you every step
[8:25] of the way.
[8:27] Ortho,
[8:29] it's our nature to help.
[8:33] >> New American cuisine from the menu. I
[8:36] love it. The white meat, the muffin, the
[8:38] glazes, the spice, the style, the smile,
[8:41] the salsa with rice, the tangy, the
[8:44] trendy, the let me suggest, new American
[8:46] cuisine, the menu, the best, the great
[8:49] combinations, the grill with the care,
[8:52] the new way of eating with sour, the
[8:55] turkey, the sirloin. Woo! I'm impressed.
[8:57] New American cuisine, the menu, the
[9:00] best.
[9:04] An old and dreaded disease is back,
[9:07] bigger and stronger. It's tuberculosis
[9:10] TV. And as CBS News health correspondent
[9:12] Edie Magnus reports, the disease is
[9:15] spreading.
[9:18] >> She can do little more than just lie
[9:19] around the house. Karen Thomas, who once
[9:22] filled her days taking care of hospital
[9:24] patients, is now stricken with the
[9:25] disease she got from one of them,
[9:27] tuberculosis.
[9:29] >> I was devastated. Um, I was angry. um
[9:32] tuberculosis was a disease of the past
[9:35] and I feel that it's um negligence in a
[9:39] sense on the healthcare system why it
[9:42] has come back and has come back with
[9:44] such full swing.
[9:45] >> This really shouldn't be happening.
[9:47] >> Shouldn't be but is the TB germ is
[9:49] spreading with a vengeance in jails with
[9:52] too many people and too little
[9:53] ventilation on hospital wards with too
[9:56] many patients and too few protective
[9:58] masks. in shelters with too many
[10:00] homeless and too little access to
[10:02] medical care. TB cases have been
[10:04] identified in all 50 states, reaching
[10:07] crisis proportions in 10 of them. The
[10:09] number of those infected has actually
[10:11] been rising steadily for 7 years. Yet,
[10:14] America somehow has been caught off
[10:16] guard.
[10:16] >> The tragedy of this epidemic is that we
[10:19] had it under control, but then we
[10:21] dropped the ball. We left the programs
[10:24] that defeated TB run out, unfunded,
[10:27] unattended,
[10:28] >> and now we are unprepared, experts
[10:31] testified today, to contain the problem.
[10:33] >> We're still fighting tuberculosis with
[10:35] diagnostic techniques developed a long
[10:37] time ago without new antibiotic
[10:39] therapies and without an effective
[10:41] vaccine to prevent the disease.
[10:43] >> And now there's a new and drugresistant
[10:45] TB strain which more swiftly kills its
[10:48] victims. It is ravaging people with AIDS
[10:50] and others with weakened immune systems.
[10:52] And it won't stop there.
[10:54] >> The likelihood of further transmission
[10:56] to the general community is now a major
[10:58] concern.
[10:59] >> At Belleview Hospital in New York,
[11:01] they're waiting for new ventilating
[11:03] equipment, waiting for new masks,
[11:05] waiting for research funds to develop
[11:07] new drugs.
[11:08] >> We are told that uh money may be
[11:10] available by 1994, but the uh epidemic
[11:14] is now.
[11:16] There's so much trouble getting TV
[11:18] patients to stay on medication, often
[11:20] necessary for a year, that there is
[11:22] increasing talk of reopening the old
[11:24] sanatoriums. An extreme solution born of
[11:27] what is now considered to be an
[11:28] extremely serious health problem. Dan,
[11:31] >> thanks. A scientists from Michigan and
[11:34] Canada say they have discovered the
[11:36] world's oldest and biggest living
[11:38] creature. It's a fungus believed to have
[11:40] been growing for up to 10,000 years near
[11:43] Crystal Falls in Michigan's upper
[11:45] peninsula. It consists of millions of
[11:48] mushrooms, all growing out of one root
[11:51] system, extending over 37 acres of the
[11:54] forest floor. Altogether, this fungus
[11:56] weighs about 100 tons. It eats dead
[12:00] wood. Stay with us now for more CBS
[12:03] news, including the Bush Quail campaign,
[12:05] lobbyists, and the White House. They're
[12:07] all close. Is there a conflict of
[12:09] interest?
[12:14] >> Why should you Why should you change
[12:16] phone companies when you're perfectly
[12:17] happy with the one you've got? Sprint
[12:20] spokesperson volume discounts. So if you
[12:23] call a lot, it would be nuts to use
[12:24] anyone else. You have relatives in over
[12:27] 180 countries. Sprint let you call them
[12:29] all direct. Phone cards even in braille.
[12:32] Sprint and go down and leave a cabillion
[12:34] people stranded. Call now and you'll
[12:36] even get 100 minutes free. How many more
[12:39] reasons do you need?
[12:45] >> Grandma's got a date. What's a date?
[12:48] >> Closeness. You might hesitate if you
[12:50] wore a diaper. So Johnson and Johnson
[12:53] created Serenity Guards. Bladder control
[12:55] protection so advanced. It holds as much
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[13:03] there's a new Serenity Guard Super Plus
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[13:08] you've been looking for extra
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[13:12] discovering new Serenity Super Plus.
[13:16] >> Here's the problem. You need to remodel
[13:18] your house, but you don't know if you'll
[13:20] ever get to do it because in between
[13:22] need and get is a gap called not enough
[13:25] money. Well, it's easy to bridge that
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[13:30] First Interstate Bank because First
[13:32] Interstate offers home improvement
[13:33] loans, car loans, and secured lines of
[13:36] credit at some of our lowest rates in
[13:37] years. So to go from need to get, just
[13:40] go to First Interstate Bank and we'll
[13:42] help you get what you need.
[13:45] >> This American has been held hostage in
[13:47] the Philippines for nearly a year and a
[13:48] half. So why are we just finding out
[13:50] about it now? We'll tell you on Ed
[13:52] Bradley Street Stories tonight.
[13:57] This is a story about a politician
[13:59] keeping a promise. When Kent Conrad ran
[14:01] for the US Senate from North Dakota six
[14:03] years ago, he promised not to run for
[14:06] reelection unless the federal budget was
[14:08] balanced. Today, Senator Conrad said the
[14:11] deficit is quote completely out of
[14:13] control and he is retiring. All of the
[14:16] presidential candidates and their
[14:18] handlers are well aware of voter
[14:19] unhappiness this year. Even the
[14:21] appearance of any conflict of interest
[14:23] is something to be avoided. So, why are
[14:26] Bush Quail campaign officials refusing
[14:28] to talk about some of their business
[14:30] ties? Why are they keeping them secret?
[14:32] Correspondent Eric Ingberg has been
[14:34] investigating.
[14:36] From the Bush campaign headquarters to
[14:39] the Bush White House, it's just a short
[14:41] threeb block trip. It's already a
[14:43] welltraveled route for Bush campaign
[14:45] managers who often deal with senior
[14:48] government officials. While enjoying
[14:49] this unusual access to US policymakers,
[14:52] many of the Bush campaign brass have
[14:54] retained an interest in businesses which
[14:57] routinely seek to influence government
[14:59] decisions. And some of the Bush campaign
[15:01] managers are being paid to advise
[15:04] foreign and domestic businesses which
[15:06] run the gamut from Atari of Japan to
[15:08] Donald Trump. The Bush team insists
[15:11] there's no problem because the campaign
[15:13] managers have quote disclosed their
[15:16] business interests. sort of.
[15:18] >> We're not revealing that information
[15:20] publicly because it is not these
[15:22] individuals have a right to privacy.
[15:24] >> Rejecting public disclosure, the
[15:26] campaign decided only three people
[15:28] needed to know the business ties of its
[15:30] officials. Chief of staff Sam Skinner,
[15:33] White House counsel Bdon Gray, and
[15:35] campaign council Bobby Birfield. That's
[15:38] enough, campaign lawyer Birfield
[15:39] insists, to keep everyone honest. So
[15:42] honest, he says, that officials, even
[15:44] the campaign manager, walk out of
[15:46] meetings anytime the subject may affect
[15:48] their own business holdings.
[15:49] >> Who left the meeting?
[15:50] >> Fred Malik has left meetings because it
[15:52] involves airlines. I can't confirm
[15:54] specific specific business interest.
[15:57] >> That tight-lipped attitude is the
[15:59] hallmark of Bush campaign policy on
[16:01] conflict of interest. Every top level
[16:03] campaign official refused to be
[16:05] interviewed for this story. Some of
[16:07] their business connections are known
[16:09] through public records. Chairman Robert
[16:11] Teter runs a consulting company that
[16:13] counts automotive giant Ford Motor as
[16:15] one client. Campaign manager Malik is a
[16:18] big player in airline and real estate
[16:20] investing. Deputy campaign manager James
[16:23] Lakes consulting firm Robinson Lake
[16:26] lobbies the government on behalf of
[16:28] Japan's auto parts industry and the chic
[16:30] of Abu Dhabi, owner of the infamous BCCI
[16:33] bank. Senior adviser Charles Black's
[16:36] consulting company works for the tobacco
[16:38] industry, the Trump Organization, and
[16:41] the insurance business. But it's not
[16:43] possible to know all the business
[16:45] interests these officials have because
[16:47] the campaign has decided against full
[16:49] public disclosure. That puts the Bush
[16:52] team in the position of arguing that the
[16:54] mixture of business and politics is so
[16:56] volatile it has to be policed, but that
[16:59] it's best that the public be kept in the
[17:01] dark. Eric Angberg, CBS News,
[17:04] Washington.
[17:05] >> Coming up next on the CBS Evening News,
[17:07] a new face and an old name in Italy's
[17:10] election campaign.
[17:17] We just put 70,000 m on a Plymouth
[17:20] Acclaim, the lowest price six passenger
[17:22] car in America. Then we asked 100
[17:25] drivers to compare the Acclaim with this
[17:27] new Honda Accord for comfort,
[17:29] performance, and overall superiority. 59
[17:33] out of 100 preferred the Acclaim
[17:35] overall. We were blown away by the
[17:38] results, and so was the Accord.
[17:42] Now get $1,000 cash back on Plymouth
[17:45] Acclaim.
[17:47] >> I just can't stand this anymore.
[17:50] How am I supposed to fall asleep with
[17:51] this pain?
[17:53] I could take one of those nighttime pain
[17:55] relievers with a sleep ingredient. But
[17:58] all I really need is Advil to help stop
[18:00] the pain that's keeping me up. Just
[18:02] Advil. That's all I want without the
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[18:07] Advil is so effective. It relieves the
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[18:12] >> Discover the relief of Advil at bedtime.
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[18:32] It's Sears Day until Saturday. If it's
[18:35] not on sale, you can make your own sale
[18:36] on thousands of great items. Just use
[18:38] the Sears bucks in Thursday's paper and
[18:40] get from $2 to $100 off any regular
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[18:45] Days now.
[18:47] >> I'm Harry Smith.
[18:48] >> And I'm Paula. Can your vision really
[18:50] improve by wearing pinhole glasses?
[18:52] >> We'll give you a clear look at their
[18:53] medical value tomorrow on CBS This
[18:55] Morning. It's breakfast for your head.
[18:59] >> Libya's Muar Gaddafi sent hundreds of
[19:01] young protesters into the streets today
[19:02] for a violent demonstration against UN
[19:05] sanctions. Students wrecked the
[19:07] Venezuelan embassy and attacked offices
[19:09] of other nations that voted to pressure
[19:11] Libya into handing over half a dozen
[19:13] terror suspects. In New York, the UN
[19:15] Security Council demanded that Libya
[19:17] stop the attacks and protect foreign
[19:20] missions. Italy holds national elections
[19:23] next week, and among the candidates for
[19:25] parliament is a familiar name. She is
[19:28] the niece of movie star Sophia Lauren.
[19:30] And perhaps more importantly in this
[19:31] context, she is the granddaughter of a
[19:33] dictator. From Rome, Bert Quint has our
[19:36] report.
[19:38] As a wouldbe movie star, nobody wanted
[19:41] her autograph. She never made a name for
[19:43] herself, but now her name is making her.
[19:47] Alexisandra Mussolini is running for
[19:49] parliament, and some old fascists and
[19:52] young mal contents love it.
[19:56] >> I believe in my grandfather, she tells
[19:58] them, and what he did.
[20:03] >> What grandpa Benonito did was invent
[20:06] fascism. And ever since he and Hitler
[20:08] lost the war, fascism has been a dirty
[20:11] word here today. A supposedly kinder,
[20:15] gentler fascism is in the air. Mussolini
[20:18] didn't just make the trains run on time.
[20:20] He gave Italy a moment of glory. Now
[20:23] nothing seems to work. The economyy's in
[20:25] trouble. The mafia's out of control. And
[20:26] the feeling is nobody does anything
[20:29] about anything.
[20:33] >> Too much liberty and too little
[20:35] everything else. This man complained,
[20:37] "If only Mussolini could be born again."
[20:40] Surprisingly, more and more Italians are
[20:43] beginning to talk this way. When things
[20:45] are bad, Alessandra Mussolini insists
[20:48] people want someone with a stick to
[20:50] change things. The name Mussolini stands
[20:53] for order. I was born with this surname,
[20:56] so for me it's natural.
[21:01] The Mussolini show is playing well in
[21:04] the air. Her neofascist party isn't
[21:06] going to win these elections nationally,
[21:08] but a lot of people are likely to give
[21:11] Alexisandre their vote. Some out of
[21:13] nostalgia for Il Duche, some in protest
[21:16] against the political hacks who have run
[21:18] this country for nearly half extension.
[21:22] It could even be a landslide that brings
[21:24] a Mussolini back to the halls of power
[21:26] in Rome. And Alisandra vows once she
[21:29] gets there she'll make the flame her
[21:31] grandfather ignited burn a new B CBS
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[22:13] >> It's working.
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[22:15] >> These are some of America's best
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[22:30] season long.
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[22:42] you can be until you've used Miracle
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[22:46] >> Flakes. Just flakes. I hope you don't
[22:50] mind me saying so, but this stuff looks
[22:51] wimpy. You know what I mean? I mean,
[22:53] look at it. Who's going to eat this
[22:54] stuff? Nobody. I know. I can tell you
[22:56] that right now.
[23:00] This is good. I made a mistake. Okay.
[23:04] But this is good. Simple down. I mean,
[23:07] that's a muscle. You know what I mean?
[23:08] >> Kellogg's cornflakes.
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[23:31] >> I live in the country where everything
[23:33] tastes a little sweeter and a little
[23:35] fresher. Maybe that's what I like best
[23:38] about these Sunsweet pitted prunes. I
[23:41] can taste all that goodness in Sunsweet.
[23:48] The fate of Manuel Noriega, the former
[23:50] Panameanian dictator, will soon be in
[23:52] the hands of a Miami jury. This story is
[23:55] about the fate of the US servicemen who
[23:58] brought Noriega to this country to stand
[23:59] trial on drug charges. David Martin
[24:02] reports tonight's Eye on America. Was
[24:05] the prize worth the price?
[24:08] For Carlos Molita, life will never be
[24:10] the same. Shot through the abdomen,
[24:12] paralyzed from the waist down. one of
[24:14] 312 servicemen wounded in the invasion
[24:17] of Panama. Nor will life ever be the
[24:20] same for the parents of John Connors,
[24:22] one of 23 Americans killed in Panama.
[24:24] They had no idea he was even there. They
[24:27] were expecting him home for the
[24:28] Christmas holidays.
[24:30] >> And my frame of mind was just joyous
[24:32] because I had I was just so hopeful.
[24:34] >> Then came the knock on the door.
[24:36] >> When I opened the door, I saw a Catholic
[24:38] priest and two naval officers.
[24:41] I think what I did is I just backed away
[24:43] and my heart just fell to my toes.
[24:45] >> John Connors and Carlos Molita were both
[24:47] members of SEAL team 4 Navy commandos
[24:50] trained to come at an enemy from almost
[24:52] any direction.
[24:54] What they lack in firepower they make up
[24:56] with stealth and surprise. In Panama,
[24:59] Seal Team 4 was assigned the mission of
[25:01] stopping Noriega from escaping by
[25:03] disabling his Lear jet parked at Patia
[25:05] airfield in downtown Panama City. Navy
[25:08] Seals are about as tough as they come,
[25:10] but no one can stand up to a bullet. As
[25:12] they advanced across the airport tarmac
[25:14] toward Norie's plane, they were hit by a
[25:16] burst of automatic weapons fire. Four
[25:18] were killed, eight wounded, the highest
[25:20] casualty rate of any unit in Panama.
[25:22] >> And we had a firefight and I and I knew
[25:25] people were hurt, but uh I didn't know
[25:27] exactly who and I didn't know exactly
[25:29] where. Carlos was was telling me to get
[25:32] off his legs and uh and I wasn't
[25:36] anywhere near his legs. He was in a lot
[25:38] of a lot of pain, but
[25:41] not panicky at all or anything. Just
[25:44] couldn't move.
[25:46] >> And we just sat there and and talked
[25:49] with these guys and uh kept track of
[25:52] their their vital signs and kept pumping
[25:55] fluids in them until the uh metvac
[25:57] showed up.
[25:58] >> Brent Parker was one of those SEALs
[26:00] caught out on the runway with no place
[26:01] to hide.
[26:02] >> Did you feel naked out there? um
[26:06] not naked, unprotected. It was high
[26:09] risk. So high risk you have to ask why
[26:11] the US just didn't use one of its many
[26:13] wonder weapons to destroy Noriego's
[26:15] plane from long range rather than send
[26:17] the SEALs in to do the job close up.
[26:20] There was a lot of civilian in the area
[26:22] and there's a lot of civilian that work
[26:25] at that airfield and to just go in and
[26:29] and blow up this hanger and blow up a
[26:32] bunch of airplanes and maybe kill some
[26:34] uh innocent people along with it is not
[26:38] something that I want our government to
[26:39] be uh betrayed as.
[26:41] >> In other parts of Panama, hundreds of
[26:42] civilians died in the crossfire between
[26:44] Americans and Norya's men. So far as is
[26:47] known, no innocent people were killed at
[26:49] Patia airfield that night. Those who
[26:52] fell were all combatants.
[26:53] >> Initially there there's a lot of anger.
[26:56] You know, like
[26:59] not at anybody indirectly, but just
[27:02] that, you know, hey, these guys aren't
[27:04] going to be there anymore. You know,
[27:06] Chris Tilman and John Connors,
[27:08] I Rodriguez, Dom McFall, Dom McFall's
[27:12] wife was pregnant. And uh you know,
[27:14] we're all like, you know, why did this
[27:16] have to happen to him?
[27:17] >> The short answer is that it was the
[27:19] price for bringing Noriega to trial on
[27:21] charges of drug trafficking. The
[27:23] impossible question for the families is
[27:25] whether it was worth it.
[27:27] >> You know, our own pain is so deep and
[27:31] our anx
[27:34] that with Norer, it's almost
[27:36] beyond the circle. John loved what he
[27:39] was doing and that was a decision that
[27:41] John made. And if he was willing to
[27:43] sacrifice it, that was a decision he
[27:45] made. But
[27:48] I would love my son to walk through the
[27:49] front door. And
[27:51] >> and I know if I could talk to any of
[27:52] them right now, you know, they would,
[27:54] you know, look at me and say, "Yeah, it
[27:55] was pretty cool." You know, it's a shame
[27:56] I had to die, but
[27:59] at least we did something we can say
[28:00] we're proud of.
[28:01] >> In Little Creek, Virginia, this is David
[28:03] Martin for Eye on America.
[28:07] And that's part of our world tonight.
[28:08] Don't forget street stories coming up on
[28:10] this CBS station this evening at 98
[28:13] central time. Dan Rather,
[28:20] can we experience the creative spirit at
[28:22] work in our community? How do we bring
[28:25] out our children's creativity? Explore
[28:28] these things and more with a host of
[28:30] searchers and thinkers in the four-part
[28:33] series, The Creative Spirit. It's where
[28:35] you belong tonight at 10:00.