World News Tonight (ABC) - 1998-09-25
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] News at 6.
[0:01] >> We'll see you then.
[0:06] >> On World News Tonight this Friday, the
[0:09] relentless Hurricane George. Today, it
[0:11] hits the Florida Keys and it isn't done
[0:14] yet. Array of hope for cold weather
[0:17] misery. Two new drugs to fight the flu
[0:19] virus itself. And what a baseball season
[0:23] for the big leagues and the little
[0:33] From ABC News World Headquarters in New
[0:36] York, this is World News Tonight with
[0:39] Peter Jennings. Good evening. Hurricane
[0:41] George rolls on. Every day this week, if
[0:44] there was an island in George's way,
[0:45] George took it on. And today, as
[0:48] projected, the Florida Keys were right
[0:50] in its path. This was the scene in
[0:53] Marathon, Florida, as the storm hit
[0:55] today. This evening, George, having done
[0:57] this, is moving out into the Gulf of
[0:59] Mexico in the direction of the Gulf
[1:00] Coast. Alabama, Louisiana, and the
[1:02] Florida panhandle may well be part of
[1:05] its future. Our first report from the
[1:07] field tonight is about the Florida Keys.
[1:10] ABC's Jim Williams has spent the day in
[1:13] Key West.
[1:16] Hurricane George first hit the Florida
[1:18] Keys slowly,
[1:20] and this morning, some residents who
[1:22] stayed here had no respect for the
[1:24] storm.
[1:25] >> That's not so bad. I mean, it's uh we've
[1:28] been all right.
[1:31] >> But as the day progressed, George gained
[1:33] power and began pounding the string of
[1:35] tiny islands with 100 mph winds.
[1:40] In Key West, trees were uprooted,
[1:44] roofs were sheared off, traffic lights
[1:47] were shattered, and houseboats were
[1:49] destroyed. Now, some people were scared.
[1:52] >> I tell you the truth, I will never stay
[1:54] again on one of these. I didn't think it
[1:55] was going to be this bad.
[1:59] >> At this grade school, residents stringed
[2:01] in seeking shelter as the hurricane
[2:03] intensified. It is midafter afternoon
[2:06] and the hurricane has reached its peak
[2:08] in the Keys. For the first time today,
[2:10] we have torrential rain. So along with
[2:13] wind damage, there is now the serious
[2:15] threat of flooding.
[2:18] Some roads were impassible. It was so
[2:20] bad, police officers were called back to
[2:22] their stations. On the west coast of
[2:25] Florida, hundreds of miles from the
[2:27] Keys, preparations are underway for the
[2:29] hurricane. A mandatory evacuation notice
[2:33] has been put forth for this area.
[2:35] >> Marco Island is evacuating. George is
[2:38] not finished. Jim Williams, ABC News,
[2:40] Key West, Florida.
[2:42] >> George is not finished, but we know how
[2:44] bad the damage has been already. In the
[2:46] Dominican Republic, it will take a very
[2:48] long time to recover. ABC's Guju Chang
[2:52] is there.
[2:54] The hurricane laid waste to major
[2:56] sectors of the Dominican economy. One
[2:58] already among the poorest in the Western
[3:00] Hemisphere. More than 300 people are
[3:03] dead or missing in flash flooding and
[3:05] mudslides. Trees look like dominoes
[3:08] knocked over as far as the eye can see.
[3:10] 70% of Dominican forests have been
[3:12] leveled. Roughly 2/3 of the country's
[3:15] electrical poles are on the ground.
[3:19] >> The country is destroyed. He says we
[3:21] need help. We need the US to help us.
[3:23] The Dominican Republic is in ruins.
[3:29] >> People here are still struggling to get
[3:31] basic necessities. Fresh food is hard to
[3:34] come by. There's no running water, no
[3:36] phone lines, no electricity, no
[3:38] television. But despite all the
[3:40] destruction, nearly everyone in this
[3:42] baseball obsessed nation is frantic to
[3:44] try and watch native son Sammy Sosa play
[3:47] ball. San Pedro de Mari used to have
[3:50] Sammy's name all over it. Now it's
[3:53] marked by Hurricane Gor. The schools
[3:56] where he donated computers battered. The
[3:58] ball fields he built for local kids torn
[4:00] apart. Nuri Castro's home was swept
[4:04] away.
[4:06] >> Nothing was left, she said. Nothing but
[4:09] the floor. For Nori Castro and the
[4:11] roughly 100,000 people whose homes were
[4:14] destroyed, it is a monumental task just
[4:17] to fight their way out from under the
[4:19] rubble. Juju Chang, ABC News, Sto.
[4:22] Domingo, the Dominican Republic.
[4:24] >> Now, some of the other news in
[4:25] Washington today, we learned that
[4:27] President Clinton's lawyers are
[4:28] negotiating with lawyers for Paula Jones
[4:31] about a possible financial settlement.
[4:33] Jones's sexual harassment case against
[4:35] the president before it was dismissed in
[4:37] April is where Monica Lewinsk's name
[4:40] first came to light. The president
[4:42] rejected a chance to settle that case
[4:43] some time ago, but of course, things are
[4:46] now quite different. Here's ABC's Jackie
[4:48] Jud.
[4:50] >> The first move to settle the case came a
[4:52] couple of weeks ago when Paula Jones's
[4:54] lawyers proposed a million dollar
[4:56] settlement. Significantly, they dropped
[4:59] the demand that Mr. Clinton apologized
[5:02] to Jones, which had blocked earlier
[5:04] attempts to settle. After years of
[5:06] insisting an apology was essential,
[5:09] Jones and her lawyers decided money was
[5:11] enough.
[5:12] >> If a substantial amount of money is paid
[5:14] in this case toward some type of
[5:16] settlement, uh that's a a tacit
[5:18] admission that the case is not bogus, as
[5:20] the president indicated in his grand
[5:23] jury testimony.
[5:24] >> Two days ago, Mr. Clinton's attorney,
[5:26] Bob Bennett, made a counter offer of
[5:28] about half a million dollars. Each side
[5:31] has reason to settle now. Jones's
[5:33] husband is out of work, and with two
[5:35] children, they need the money. And the
[5:37] case has always been perceived as a hard
[5:40] one to win. The president wants to shut
[5:42] this down, according to an adviser, as
[5:45] part of the overall effort to get past
[5:47] the current crisis. Without a
[5:49] settlement, the president faces the real
[5:51] possibility that the sexual harassment
[5:53] case would be reopened by the Court of
[5:56] Appeals. More immediately, Jones's
[5:59] lawyers are threatening to ask that Mr.
[6:00] Clinton be cited for contempt for
[6:03] misleading statements he made during his
[6:05] deposition in the case. If that goes
[6:07] forward, witnesses could be called.
[6:10] witnesses like Monica Lewinsky as well
[6:12] as other women who were questioned about
[6:14] relations with the president and who
[6:16] might offer potentially damaging
[6:18] testimony. So, will it happen now? Both
[6:21] sides are cautioning that a lot could
[6:23] still go wrong, but the motivation to
[6:25] settle seems stronger than ever before.
[6:28] Peter,
[6:29] >> thank you very much. Jackie Jud in
[6:30] Washington this evening. When we come
[6:31] back, we'll have some of the day's other
[6:33] news. Taking the fight out of the flu,
[6:36] new drugs to feel better sooner, and a
[6:39] golden season in the majors and beyond.
[6:45] >> This is World News Tonight with Peter
[6:48] Jennings, brought to you by Charles
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[8:09] >> As we head into the first official
[8:11] weekend of the fall, there is important
[8:13] news about the dread disease of winter.
[8:15] Two new drugs to fight the worst of the
[8:17] flu are showing great promise. And 40
[8:20] million Americans get the flu every
[8:22] year. Here's ABC's Ned Potter.
[8:25] The flu makes its victims miserable and
[8:28] it can kill 10 to 40,000 Americans a
[8:31] year. Vaccines are good prevention, but
[8:33] if you get sick, the best most doctors
[8:35] can do is suggest aspirin and fluids.
[8:38] The two new medications should fight the
[8:41] virus itself.
[8:42] >> Most flu treatments that doctors use
[8:44] today are designed to treat the
[8:46] symptoms. This is a medication that
[8:49] actually treats the cause of the
[8:51] symptoms, the virus replication. The
[8:53] treatments are called Relenza and
[8:55] GS4104.
[8:57] One's a pill, the other's inhaled. Tests
[8:59] showed they shortened the flu's duration
[9:01] 25 to 40% if taken early enough and in
[9:05] one trial reduce the number of
[9:07] complications such as bronchitis by 50%.
[9:10] The main issue now is getting them out
[9:12] there. Doctors say that at best they
[9:15] could be ready late next year. Ed
[9:17] Potter, ABC News, New York. In
[9:20] California today, researchers have
[9:21] announced a new vaccine which they say
[9:23] will protect children from several
[9:25] diseases. They are very encouraged about
[9:27] the clinical trials. But the news raises
[9:30] a question. Do children automatically
[9:32] need another vaccine? Here's ABC's John
[9:35] McKenzie.
[9:37] >> Most children in this country are
[9:38] injected with at least 10 different
[9:40] vaccines.
[9:42] Now, some doctors seem eager to add yet
[9:44] another. This new Numacco vaccine. It's
[9:47] one of the most important, if not the
[9:49] most important vaccines that has been
[9:51] developed in the last 10 years.
[9:54] >> The vaccine appears to prevent the most
[9:56] dangerous form of pneumacco disease
[9:58] called bacterial menitis. It also might
[10:01] help prevent pneumonia and middle ear
[10:03] infection. While few people doubt this
[10:05] new vaccine is effective, a controversy
[10:07] is erupting about whether every child in
[10:09] the country actually needs it, whether
[10:11] we really know enough to say the
[10:13] benefits outweigh the risks. Young
[10:16] children are the most vulnerable to
[10:17] serious pneumakal disease with 10,000
[10:19] cases reported each year. But relatively
[10:22] few, only about 200 are actually deadly.
[10:25] The vast majority are treated
[10:27] effectively with antibiotics.
[10:29] >> If we're going to require a vaccine, it
[10:31] should be for a disease that is highly
[10:33] contagious, is is extremely deadly, and
[10:35] is an epidemic form. This disease does
[10:38] not qualify.
[10:39] >> The reason some are urging caution is
[10:41] that nobody knows the long-term side
[10:43] effects of any vaccine. And the few
[10:45] cases where people have started to look,
[10:47] the results have been disturbing, for
[10:49] example, Finland in the mid1 1980s.
[10:52] Here, the health service gave children a
[10:54] vaccine made much the same way as the
[10:56] new Macakaco vaccine, then followed
[10:58] their health. By the time the children
[11:01] were 10, those who had received the
[11:03] vaccine had developed diabetes at a
[11:05] significantly higher rate than those not
[11:08] vaccinated. published studies showed
[11:10] that when one follows these kids and
[11:12] looks for diseases like diabetes and
[11:15] asthma that the immunized kids seem to
[11:17] be at an increased risk.
[11:19] >> This vaccine should definitely be made
[11:20] available for children who are in poor
[11:22] poor health have imu compromised immune
[11:24] systems but it should not be required
[11:26] for all children.
[11:28] >> While vaccines have saved the lives of
[11:30] millions, some researchers warned that
[11:32] before we add another, we have a better
[11:34] understanding of the risks involved.
[11:36] John McKenzie, ABC News, New York.
[11:40] >> Other news, no relationship whatsoever.
[11:42] Consumer spending was up last month. The
[11:44] sale of back to school items as well as
[11:47] General Motors cars and trucks after the
[11:49] strike pushed spending up 6/10 of a
[11:51] percent and incomes went up 2.5%.
[11:55] Which may also explain some of the
[11:58] spending. On Wall Street today, the Dow
[11:59] Jones Industrials gained 26 points to
[12:02] close at 8,028.
[12:04] On the NASDAQ market, stocks were up 23
[12:07] points. When we come back, sibling
[12:10] rivalry, East and West Germany, and a
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[14:00] >> at Red Lobster. The season isn't over.
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[14:20] Overseas today, one of the world's
[14:22] longest serving political leaders is in
[14:24] the fight of his political life. The
[14:26] German Chancellor, Helmet Cole, has been
[14:28] in office since 1982. He's a longtime
[14:31] friend of the United States. There's an
[14:33] election in Germany on Sunday, and Mr.
[14:36] Cole is in serious trouble. Cole has
[14:38] often said that his greatest achievement
[14:40] was to reunite East and West Germany
[14:42] after the Berlin Wall came down. Now,
[14:45] his greatest achievement may cost him
[14:47] the election. Here's ABC's Jim Wooten.
[14:53] On the face of it, at a passing glance,
[14:55] the old East Germany looks pretty good
[14:57] these days. But behind the hustle and
[15:00] bustle,
[15:02] just beneath the surface, a different
[15:04] reality. Unemployment is at 20%. And for
[15:07] those who expected more from democracy,
[15:10] the old days communism looked better and
[15:12] better.
[15:15] >> Before, says this fellow, everybody had
[15:17] a job.
[15:19] Actually, he and the others here still
[15:21] do. sort of rebuilding museum pieces for
[15:25] $500 a month.
[15:28] Part of a billion dollar election-year
[15:30] scheme of public employment designed to
[15:33] improve Chancellor Cole's standing among
[15:35] Easterners. It hasn't helped.
[15:41] Everywhere he campaigns, there's more
[15:43] than music in the air.
[15:46] Young people are especially angry, but
[15:49] almost all easterners blame him for not
[15:51] doing enough.
[15:55] >> In the prosperous West, however, Cole is
[15:57] criticized for doing too much, for
[15:59] adding new taxes and subtracting social
[16:02] services to pay the price of
[16:04] unification.
[16:06] Reducing, for example, free month-long
[16:08] visits to health spas like this one from
[16:11] once every two years to once every four.
[16:14] This woman says she knows the easterners
[16:17] are now getting better healthcare than
[16:18] she is. We always cut back. They always
[16:21] get more.
[16:23] >> If this election has clarified anything,
[16:25] it is that 8 years after unification,
[16:27] this remains a country as divided now as
[16:30] when this old wall kept Germans apart
[16:32] and Sunday's voting won't change that.
[16:35] Jim Wooten, ABC News, Berlin. Still
[16:38] overseas in Britain today. The author
[16:40] Salman Rashti says that right after
[16:41] waking up this morning, he checked the
[16:43] television. He wanted to make sure Iran
[16:45] hadn't changed its decision about
[16:47] disavowing the death penalty imposed on
[16:50] him for supposedly insulting Islam.
[16:53] Rashi's life is not back to normal.
[16:55] British Airlines says it still would not
[16:57] allow him on its flights because it
[16:59] might compromise the safety of the other
[17:01] passengers. When we come back, the
[17:04] season to remember.
[17:12] I can tell you about gratitude.
[17:16] >> I can tell you about regaining hope.
[17:19] >> We could tell you about our national
[17:21] medical excellence program and how it
[17:23] provides our members access to the
[17:25] country's finest medical centers when
[17:27] the treatment they need is not available
[17:29] locally. But they can do it so much
[17:32] better.
[17:32] >> I can tell you about never giving up.
[17:35] We're Etna US healthcare raising the
[17:37] quality of healthcare in America.
[17:41] >> Welcome to my mailboxes, etc. You know,
[17:43] this may look like a regular mailbox,
[17:45] but let me tell you the secret. You get
[17:47] a street address, not just a PO box
[17:49] number. That means we can sign for your
[17:51] FedEx shipments and other packages. You
[17:54] get an entire support staff. Where else
[17:56] are you going to be able to call and
[17:57] check your mail? I mean, come on. Who's
[17:59] going to do that for you? We'll also
[18:00] forward that mail anywhere in the world.
[18:03] Can your mailbox do that?
[18:05] >> You could win $50,000. Play what's in
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[18:10] >> The forecast has plenty of
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[19:27] As most of you know, it's the last
[19:29] weekend of the regular baseball season.
[19:31] We are not surprised. They are
[19:32] frustrated in Santa Domingo not being
[19:34] able to see whether Sammy Sosa will win
[19:36] the season's home run title in the next
[19:38] two or three days. For baseball fans,
[19:41] it's going to be a great weekend. A
[19:43] fitting finish to a great season.
[19:48] Down the left field line. Is it enough?
[19:51] Gone.
[19:53] There it is. 62
[19:56] touch first mark TO BELTON. HE DID IT.
[20:00] NUMBER 65. AND THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT
[20:03] IT.
[20:04] >> THE great home run race of 1998 is not
[20:07] over yet. And what a year it's been for
[20:10] pitching.
[20:10] >> He makes the catch. David Wells. David
[20:14] Wells has pissed a perfect game.
[20:17] >> Here comes the hook and done. 20
[20:21] strikeouts. He ties the major league
[20:24] record.
[20:24] >> 20 strikeouts for 20-year-old Carrie
[20:26] Wood of the Chicago Cubs.
[20:28] >> Unbelievable.
[20:29] >> The Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripken finally
[20:31] took a day off after 2,632
[20:34] consecutive games. As for the teams, and
[20:37] a line drive, the ball game's over.
[20:40] >> The race for the playoffs is going right
[20:42] down to the wire. And the Yankees have
[20:44] already tied the league record for the
[20:46] most wins in one season, 111 set in
[20:50] 1954.
[20:54] What a season.
[20:56] What a season in the majors, that is.
[20:58] But there's more to life than the major
[21:00] leagues.
[21:03] >> Let's not forget Little League.
[21:07] They have a great season every year.
[21:10] This year, once again, more than 7,500
[21:13] teams played Little League. That's more
[21:14] than 2 and a2 million kids in the US
[21:16] alone.
[21:18] And this year when it came right down to
[21:20] the finals at the Little League World
[21:22] Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania,
[21:24] let's go.
[21:25] >> The team from Tom's River, New Jersey
[21:27] was there to play one from Kashima,
[21:28] Japan. What a series it was for Chris
[21:31] Cardone. He hit two home runs in the
[21:34] championship game.
[21:36] And what a series it was for Todd
[21:38] Frasier. He hit four in the series,
[21:41] including the leadoff home run in the
[21:43] final. Yesterday, Chris and Todd were
[21:46] here in New York City. And so we got
[21:48] together for a few minutes in Central
[21:50] Park. We wondered after all the
[21:52] excitement that they have had this year,
[21:55] what did they think about Mark Magguire
[21:57] and Sammy Sosa?
[21:58] >> What do you like about Magguire?
[22:00] >> Um, I just like how he just stands up
[22:03] there and he's aggressive and how he
[22:04] swings, hits that ball far and they're
[22:07] like high and deep and they're like
[22:09] bombs. Great. I I just like Sosa because
[22:13] I guess I just like to see him how I
[22:17] think it's really hard to come to the to
[22:19] America to play a game that that you're
[22:22] not even you know you can't even go home
[22:24] to your real house at night. You just
[22:27] got to you got to stay in America. And I
[22:28] think that's pretty hard. But and he he
[22:31] also came from almost like nothing from
[22:34] like a a stick and a a ball and just he
[22:38] just loved the game. I I like I like
[22:40] following him because
[22:42] cuz he likes it that much.
[22:45] >> When we come back, maybe not Maguire,
[22:47] not Sosa, not Ruth, maybe Josh Gibson.
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[24:29] Tonight with Hugh DS and Barbara
[24:30] Walters. Why did the victims of these
[24:32] hate crimes wind up behind bars
[24:34] themselves? Find out on 2020 Tonight.
[24:37] And don't miss Barbara Walters and Diane
[24:39] Sawyer on 2020 Sunday at 98 central.
[24:44] >> Finally, this evening not to be
[24:45] forgotten. In this season of baseball
[24:47] power, with the single season home run
[24:49] record falling, there have been all
[24:50] sorts of comparisons with the past.
[24:52] Who's the best slugger of all time?
[24:55] Maguire or Ruth? Sammy Sosa. You heard
[24:57] the kids. Hank Aaron. You get different
[24:59] answers from different people, but there
[25:01] is certainly one man who shouldn't be
[25:03] overlooked. Here's ABC's Aaron Brown.
[25:07] >> Josh Gibson was a big man with a short
[25:09] swing that made the most memorable sound
[25:12] when bat met ball.
[25:14] >> I hear this sound. I got on nothing but
[25:16] my jock.
[25:16] >> Buckle was just coming up when Gibson
[25:18] was in his prime. I run out on the field
[25:21] and here's a pretty black sucker with
[25:24] shoulders like that, waist by 34 in and
[25:27] swinging that bat pretty swing. That was
[25:30] Josh Gibson. Whites called him the black
[25:33] babe Ruth. Blacks called Ruth the white
[25:36] Josh Gibson. In 17 years, it said he hit
[25:39] 962 home runs. That's almost 250 more
[25:43] than Ruth hit. And there seems to be a
[25:46] story about each and every one of them.
[25:49] There was the homer over the mountain.
[25:51] The homer right out of Yankee Stadium.
[25:53] Not even the babe did that. 75 homers
[25:56] one year, 84 in another. It is hard to
[25:59] know where truth ends and myth begins.
[26:03] >> They played in Pittsburgh one night,
[26:06] right? And they're supposed to play in
[26:09] uh Philadelphia that Sunday afternoon.
[26:12] >> He hit in Pittsburgh one day this this
[26:15] home run and it never came down. And
[26:18] then a couple days later,
[26:19] >> ball came down
[26:22] and somebody caught it.
[26:23] >> And the umpire says, "You're out
[26:25] yesterday in Pittsburgh."
[26:27] >> What is not a myth is this. He was the
[26:30] best all-around player in the Negro
[26:32] Leagues, a legitimate Hall of Famer, and
[26:35] a symbol for all the others denied their
[26:37] chance to play in the majors. And could
[26:39] they play? When blacks were finally and
[26:42] begrudgingly led into Major League
[26:44] Baseball a in the wake of Jackie
[26:46] Robinson in the National League, they
[26:49] won the MVP nine out of the next 11
[26:53] years. Josh Gibson never got there. He
[26:56] died in January of 47, 4 months before
[26:59] Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
[27:03] He was 35.
[27:05] It's hard to compare Josh Gibson to the
[27:07] great power hitters of this era or any
[27:10] era. The Negro Leaguers played in
[27:12] erratic schedules. Statistics were kept
[27:14] haphazardly.
[27:16] And time has had a way of increasing the
[27:18] number of home runs he hit and the
[27:20] distance they traveled. But just because
[27:23] we can't know for certain how the record
[27:25] books might read if everyone had been
[27:27] allowed to play, doesn't mean we can't
[27:30] and shouldn't take a moment to wonder.
[27:33] Aaron Brown, ABC News, Kansas City.
[27:37] >> That is our report on World News
[27:38] Tonight. Later this evening on 2020, the
[27:41] alarming increase of violence in kids
[27:43] sports. And on Night Line, is Kenneth
[27:46] Star obsessed about getting the
[27:48] president as his critics charge? I'm
[27:50] Peter Jennings. We hope you have a good
[27:52] weekend. See you Monday night.
[28:08] Next week, medicine on the cutting edge.
[28:10] Monday, this incredible holographic
[28:12] heart. It's like a flight simulator for
[28:14] surgeons on World News Tonight with
[28:17] Peter Jennings. This has been a
[28:19] presentation of ABC News. More Americans
[28:22] get their news from ABC News than from
[28:24] any other source. ABC News.