NBC Nightly News - 1977-07-14
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] TV Nashville.
[0:03] >> This is NBC Nightly News with John
[0:05] Chancellor
[0:07] and David Brinkley. Thursday, July 14th.
[0:14] New York City in the early morning after
[0:16] a night of no electric power and so no
[0:19] lights, elevators, subway trains, or any
[0:22] trains, airports, air conditioning,
[0:24] traffic signals, television. What it did
[0:27] have in the dark streets was a wild
[0:29] outburst of crime, arson, looting,
[0:32] mugging, and a thousand false fire
[0:34] alarms.
[0:39] At 9:34 last night, it all went black.
[0:42] The streets, homes, hotels, theaters,
[0:45] restaurants, plus subways, and
[0:47] elevators, and the people in them were
[0:48] stuck wherever they happened to be.
[0:50] Lightning struck a power line 50 mi out
[0:53] of town. And then one after another, the
[0:55] power stations became overloaded because
[0:58] on a hot summer night, the air
[1:00] conditioners were running. And one by
[1:02] one, they shut themselves down. At 9:34,
[1:05] the last one went. Tonight, something
[1:08] over half of the power has been
[1:10] restored, but the rest of the city is
[1:12] still dark. Here are two reports.
[1:17] At 9:34 last night, the Statue of
[1:19] Liberty and the rest of New York were
[1:21] brightly lighted as usual. A moment
[1:23] later, only Liberty and her lamp were
[1:25] there. Those small lights you see were
[1:27] in New Jersey.
[1:30] The streets were plunged into darkness,
[1:32] broken only by the headlights of passing
[1:34] cars. People caught outdoors, groped
[1:37] along. This neighborhood isn't quite
[1:39] safe, even in broad daylight.
[1:42] The traffic lights went out too, but
[1:44] volunteers manned hundreds of street
[1:46] corners to keep the traffic moving. Most
[1:48] drivers obeyed the amateur policemen.
[1:51] Thousands of people were trapped in the
[1:53] subways. In some cases, it took 2 hours
[1:56] to bring them into stations on emergency
[1:58] power. Some passengers were bewildered.
[2:02] >> And all I want to know is there really a
[2:04] blackout.
[2:05] >> Well, we really don't know yet, but was
[2:06] there any panic on the train?
[2:08] >> No, no, no. The passenger was just
[2:11] marvelous.
[2:13] >> At the 110story World Trade Center,
[2:15] several parties of tourists were trapped
[2:17] in the elevators. They were cheerful
[2:19] about it later.
[2:22] >> Bit funny there at times that
[2:25] >> you got a little frightened.
[2:27] >> Yeah, a little bit. The highest I ever
[2:28] been. Anyway,
[2:29] >> what floor were you on?
[2:31] >> Uh7.
[2:32] The kids were crying.
[2:34] >> The kids were crying?
[2:34] >> Yeah, just little babies. One or two
[2:36] there.
[2:37] >> What about you?
[2:38] >> I was all right. I'm I'm used to that.
[2:39] I've been stuck before.
[2:42] >> Other visitors slept in the lobbies of
[2:44] their hotels rather than walk up to
[2:46] bedrooms on high floors. They accepted
[2:49] the discomfort without much complaint.
[2:52] >> I live on the 30th floor and I'm stuck
[2:54] right here in the uh lobby trying to get
[2:57] up to my room with a cold beer. So, I'll
[3:00] live, I guess.
[3:01] >> Tell me what happened. Where were you
[3:03] when it happened? Well, I was between my
[3:05] French onion soup and my main course,
[3:08] which never arrived.
[3:10] >> Generally, it was the poor who suffered
[3:11] the most, stumbling in the dark streets,
[3:14] falling victim to muggers, fighting
[3:16] unseen enemies.
[3:18] The injured overflowed the emergency
[3:20] room at one hospital in Brooklyn, so an
[3:23] extension was created in the parking
[3:24] lot. By the light from fire trucks and
[3:27] trouble lamps, the surgeons and the
[3:29] nurses worked outdoors throughout the
[3:32] night. This was a neighborhood where
[3:34] there are many fights, many injuries at
[3:36] the best of times.
[3:38] Last night in the dark, it was the worst
[3:41] of times.
[3:43] >> Richard Hunt, NBC News, New York.
[3:50] There was a very ugly side to what
[3:51] happened in some parts of the city
[3:53] during the blackout.
[3:55] Thousands of people broke into stores
[3:57] and looted them, carrying home
[3:59] furniture, appliances, jewelry, liquor,
[4:02] and food.
[4:04] There were too many looters and not
[4:06] enough police and people casually walked
[4:08] away with shopping carts and bags of
[4:10] stolen merchandise. Scores of businesses
[4:13] were broken into.
[4:16] Police made more than 2500 arrests
[4:18] during the night, but officers said
[4:20] there were many more who were not
[4:22] caught.
[4:24] Many of the looted stores were also set
[4:26] on fire and a lot of firemen and
[4:28] policemen were hurt when they were hit
[4:30] by bricks and bottles thrown by
[4:32] neighborhood residents.
[4:34] Some buildings were still burning at
[4:36] dawn. The people who live in the area
[4:38] got their first good look at all of the
[4:40] destruction.
[4:42] >> I think that it's a shame. I think that
[4:45] uh soon as the light went off, a lot of
[4:47] people reverted back to their basic
[4:49] animal instincts. And I think that the
[4:51] lights had have been off for longer, we
[4:52] would have had more trouble.
[4:54] >> The people are hungry
[4:56] and the people had a chance to show
[4:59] their hungerness.
[5:01] And in July, the 7th month of 1977
[5:05] was another Christmas for the people.
[5:08] >> What TV? What is this?
[5:10] >> And some looting continued during the
[5:12] day. Police said they didn't have enough
[5:14] men to put a guard at each store.
[5:17] During the famous blackout of 1965,
[5:20] there was actually a big decrease in the
[5:22] number of crimes and fewer than 100
[5:24] people were arrested.
[5:28] >> But that was not the case this time.
[5:32] It wasn't like this at all in most of
[5:34] New York, but in a few neighborhoods,
[5:37] the blackout was a period of great
[5:39] destruction and much lawlessness.
[5:42] Brian Ross, NBC News, New York.
[5:47] So, in the dark last night, when the
[5:49] power system broke down, so did some of
[5:51] what is usually called a social order or
[5:54] civilization.
[5:55] Today, stores were closed and so were
[5:57] the banks and so was Wall Street. And to
[6:00] a great extent, New York City, for the
[6:02] day, was out of business. Here's Gerald
[6:04] Harrington.
[6:07] >> It was precisely 5:37 this morning when
[6:10] the sun finally came out and chased away
[6:13] the darkness.
[6:15] As the morning grew older, it became
[6:17] apparent the city's plea for commuters
[6:19] to stay home had taken. Major arteries
[6:22] into the city carried extremely light
[6:25] traffic. Subways and commuter trains
[6:27] were shut down, and streets normally
[6:29] choked with traffic were empty. The rush
[6:32] hour had been cancelled.
[6:35] Although most of the big stores like
[6:37] Macy's here were closed, employees
[6:39] showed up anyway, mostly to check in and
[6:41] to see if they had the day off. They
[6:43] did.
[6:45] Perhaps hardest hit was the financial
[6:48] district. 5 to $600 million worth of
[6:50] securities are traded here every working
[6:52] day, but brokers were not working today.
[6:57] Also not working was the water pressure
[6:59] in many of the highrises that use
[7:01] electric pumps. So the residents
[7:04] adjusted.
[7:06] When the power was restored in this
[7:08] area, stores were doing a brisk
[7:10] business. NBC.
[7:12] >> Uh, it seems like everybody's coming for
[7:13] batteries this morning.
[7:14] >> Batteries and radios. I think I've heard
[7:16] a couple,
[7:16] >> right? Portable radios. And pretty soon
[7:18] I'll probably be selling a lot of
[7:19] candles.
[7:21] >> But you How do you figure that? I mean,
[7:23] the lights came on 10 minutes ago. Why
[7:24] do you think they're still buying
[7:25] batteries and radios?
[7:26] >> They're not keeping the faith, I don't
[7:28] think.
[7:29] >> In Central Park, they were keeping the
[7:31] faith in sunbathing
[7:34] and jogging and kite flying. Here we
[7:38] are. The city is in a state of emergency
[7:41] and you and your boyfriend are out here
[7:43] flying kites.
[7:45] >> Well, better than staying home and uh
[7:47] worrying about it or waiting for the
[7:48] boss to call, so we decid to come out
[7:50] and fly a kite.
[7:52] Okay. All right. Go.
[7:58] >> Gerald Harrington, NBC News, New York.
[8:03] We'll be back in a moment with the other
[8:04] news and later more on the blackout,
[8:07] including the city's angry and agitated
[8:09] mayor and an attempt to find out why it
[8:11] all happened.
[8:17] >> Morning, Tom.
[8:18] >> Morgan. Pounding that pavement yesterday
[8:21] sure got me, George. This nagging
[8:23] backachche ruined my sleep.
[8:25] >> Here, start taking these this morning.
[8:28] >> Dome pills?
[8:29] >> They sure help me. When nagging
[8:31] backachche due to overexertion or
[8:33] everyday stress and strain comes on,
[8:34] Don's pain relieving action often brings
[8:36] temporary relief and lets you get a good
[8:38] night's sleep.
[8:40] >> How's the back, Tom?
[8:41] >> Good.
[8:41] >> Oh, great. I'm
[8:42] >> try Don's pills for relief of nagging
[8:44] backachche.
[8:48] >> What you doing, Eddie?
[8:49] >> I'm helping my sore sunburn with
[8:51] Vaseline petroleum jelly.
[8:53] >> What you doing, Mom?
[8:55] >> First aid. Vaseline petroleum jelly
[8:57] soothes Billy's scraped elbow. What you
[8:59] doing, Dad?
[9:00] >> Well, after all this gardening, I'm
[9:01] helping heal these rough, dry hands with
[9:03] Vaseline petroleum jelly.
[9:05] >> What you doing, sis?
[9:06] >> Soothing these beat up feet? No shoes
[9:08] all day.
[9:10] >> In all seasons, for all reasons, do it
[9:13] with Vaseline petroleum jelly.
[9:16] >> Ever read the insert in a box of cotton
[9:18] swabs? Never insert cotton swab tips
[9:21] into ear canal to remove wax. Yet inside
[9:24] the ear canal, excess wax can harden to
[9:26] create pressure pain. But now there's
[9:29] ear drops and ear washer by Murine.
[9:31] Murine's ear drops gently, safely soften
[9:34] hard excess wax when used as directed.
[9:37] Then Murine's ear washer gently washes
[9:39] wax away so pressure and pain are
[9:42] relieved. Ear drops and ear washer by
[9:44] Meine.
[9:47] An American Army helicopter from South
[9:49] Korea flew by mistake a mile or two into
[9:52] North Korea where it was shot down.
[9:55] Three Americans were killed. One was
[9:57] captured and held by the North Koreans
[9:59] and he was wounded. The result was anger
[10:02] and tension that President Carter said
[10:04] he did not want this to escalate into a
[10:07] confrontation. Here are reports from the
[10:09] Pentagon, from the White House, and from
[10:12] South Korea.
[10:13] The helicopter that was shot down was a
[10:16] Chinook like this one, a cargo and
[10:18] transport helicopter. It can be armed
[10:20] with three 30 caliber machine guns. The
[10:23] one shot down by the North Koreans, the
[10:25] Pentagon said, was not armed. It took
[10:28] off from a base south of Seoul, headed
[10:30] northeast to carry construction material
[10:32] to an observation post near the
[10:33] demilitarized zone. It never reached its
[10:36] destination, but instead, because of a
[10:38] navigational error, veered north and
[10:40] passed over the DMZ. Pentagon spokesman
[10:43] Tom Ross told what happened next.
[10:45] >> While the helicopter was over the DMZ,
[10:48] the South Koreans fired warning shots.
[10:51] The helicopter proceeded north and it
[10:53] landed in North Korea. It stayed on the
[10:56] ground for approximately one or two
[10:58] minutes. Then it took off and turned
[11:01] south. At that point, the North Koreans
[11:04] fired on the helicopter and it crashed.
[11:06] The American pilot was supposed to have
[11:08] picked up a South Korean navigator at a
[11:10] point 15 to 20 m from the DMZ. For some
[11:14] reason, perhaps because he was lost, he
[11:16] did not. Although the American was
[11:18] qualified to fly in the area south of
[11:20] the DMZ, he had never flown there
[11:22] before. If so, lack of a navigator may
[11:25] have caused him to stray into North
[11:27] Korea. Charles Quinn, NBC News, at the
[11:30] Pentagon. Word of the incident in Korea
[11:32] reached the White House last night
[11:33] during entertainment that followed a
[11:35] state dinner for West German Chancellor
[11:36] Helmet Schmidt. President Carter stayed
[11:39] through the last strains of music before
[11:41] going to the White House situation room
[11:42] to review the trouble along the
[11:44] demilitarized zone. There with Vice
[11:46] President Montdale, Secretary of State
[11:48] Vance, and National Security Aids, the
[11:50] president decided the incident was
[11:52] something less than a crisis and
[11:53] probably the fault of the US helicopter
[11:55] crew. And today, it was almost business
[11:58] as usual. Mr. Carter held a regularly
[12:00] scheduled breakfast meeting with seven
[12:01] senators. He made it clear the White
[12:03] House was downplaying the seriousness of
[12:05] the incident and concerned mainly with
[12:07] scheduling an early meeting with the
[12:09] North Koreans to gain release of the
[12:10] captured crew.
[12:11] >> We were trying to let them know that we
[12:13] realize if a mistake was made by the
[12:15] crew and going to demilitarize. were
[12:17] primarily interested in in having the
[12:20] incident not escalate
[12:23] into a confrontation and also to account
[12:25] for the crew members.
[12:29] >> And the rest of the day, Mr. Carter
[12:31] acted as if no confrontation was
[12:33] necessary. He deviated little from his
[12:35] usual schedule, holding his final talk
[12:37] with Chancellor Schmidt.
[12:39] >> The president turned aside most
[12:40] questions on the incident, but did say
[12:42] he will not change his plans to withdraw
[12:44] American ground troops from South Korea.
[12:46] told uh
[12:48] the senators this morning and the
[12:50] president of the press and Jody has
[12:52] already described to you everything I
[12:54] know about it, but we have no reason to
[12:56] re-evaluate. Press Secretary Jodie
[12:59] Powell, meanwhile, said the
[13:00] administration never considered this a
[13:02] crisis that required large-scale
[13:03] military action. Clearly, the words and
[13:06] actions of the administration are aimed
[13:07] at diffusing the situation before it has
[13:09] a chance to escalate, hoping at the same
[13:11] time for some signal from the North
[13:13] Koreans that they too will act
[13:14] moderately. And administration officials
[13:17] say the test of that policy will likely
[13:18] come Saturday, Korean time, when the two
[13:21] sides are expected to meet at Panunjam,
[13:23] and the Americans ask for the return of
[13:25] the captured soldier and the bodies of
[13:27] the three other crewmen. Bob Jameson,
[13:29] NBC News, at the White House.
[13:32] As word got around here in the South
[13:34] Korean capital, concern mounted that a
[13:36] major crisis was looming. But in a quick
[13:39] series of proposals and
[13:40] counterproposals, the US made it clear
[13:42] it wanted a quick end to this affair.
[13:45] The US call for an immediate convening
[13:48] of a meeting at Palun Jam was turned
[13:50] down. The North Koreans asking for two
[13:52] days delay. The Americans are now hoping
[13:55] the North will agree to a meeting
[13:57] Friday, but it seems doubtful. The
[13:59] obvious hope here is that the
[14:01] consiliatory tone of the Carter
[14:02] administration will prompt the North
[14:04] Koreans to release the one captive
[14:06] soldier quickly and return the three
[14:08] dead Americans. The North Korean
[14:10] reaction, however, is totally
[14:12] unpredictable. The North has downed five
[14:15] American aircraft near the DMZ since the
[14:17] end of the Korean War. The American and
[14:20] South Koreans say there are no military
[14:23] alerts in effect, but the atmosphere
[14:26] will remain uncertain until the exact
[14:28] position of the North Koreans is made
[14:31] clear. Jim Lori, NBC News in Soul.
[14:36] >> Members of Congress and others reacted
[14:38] to this very carefully. Some of them
[14:40] wondered if this might not affect the
[14:42] Carter plan to withdraw troops from
[14:44] South Korea. Here's Katherine Mackin in
[14:47] Washington.
[14:50] >> The reaction in Congress was mainly to
[14:52] support the way the president is
[14:53] handling the Korean incident. However,
[14:55] the incident did start up again all
[14:57] those arguments about those 40,000
[14:59] American ground troops in South Korea
[15:01] and whether the president should go
[15:02] ahead with his plans to bring them home
[15:05] over a 5-year period. We ought to see
[15:07] this not as a signal to go in deeper or
[15:10] to stay longer, but to begin the kind of
[15:13] disengagement that President Carter's
[15:15] been talking about. It's been 25 years
[15:18] since the war in Korea,
[15:22] and there is no reason why we should
[15:24] continue to maintain forces
[15:27] in such an exposed position.
[15:31] As long as we insist on doing that,
[15:34] this won't be the last of the tragedies.
[15:37] >> The reduction of the American presence
[15:40] would enhance the temptation of the
[15:42] North Koreans to mount military
[15:44] adventures or political adventures or
[15:47] commit acts that could escalate into
[15:50] something bigger.
[15:51] >> I would caution against deciding the
[15:54] issue of troop withdrawals from South
[15:56] Korea on the basis of this single
[15:59] isolated incident.
[16:01] A month ago, the Senate passed an
[16:02] amendment in which it said any plans to
[16:04] withdraw American ground troops from
[16:06] South Korea should be a joint decision
[16:08] made by the president and the Congress
[16:10] acting together, not by the president
[16:11] acting alone. This was interpreted as a
[16:14] message to the president to go slow in
[16:16] bringing home those ground troops. This
[16:18] new incident could slow things down even
[16:20] more. Katherine Mackin, NBC News, the
[16:23] capital.
[16:24] For 24 years, the two sides have faced
[16:27] each other across a demilitarized zone
[16:30] between North and South Korea. And while
[16:32] there has been an armistice, it has been
[16:34] a bloody one. There have been more than
[16:36] 2,000 shooting incidents. 87 Americans
[16:40] and 450 South Koreans killed. The most
[16:44] serious was last August when North
[16:46] Koreans swinging axes killed two
[16:48] American officers who were trying to
[16:50] trim a tree that was blocking their
[16:52] view. And it took a long time for the
[16:54] anger over that one to die down.
[17:01] Can what you eat and drink affect the
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[18:04] >> Hey there. Maybe you needed night last
[18:08] night.
[18:10] Maybe you had trouble falling asleep.
[18:13] Well, that's what Night Tall is all
[18:15] about. On those occasional nights when
[18:18] you do have trouble, Night Tall can help
[18:20] make you drowsy so you can fall asleep.
[18:22] Come on, America.
[18:25] >> Stop yawning. For occasional
[18:27] sleeplessness, remember Nightall.
[18:31] Israel's Prime Minister Bean flies to
[18:34] the US tomorrow, bringing with him a
[18:36] peace plan he hopes will show the
[18:38] Americans, including President Carter,
[18:40] that he is not rigid and inflexible and
[18:43] in fact is ready to deal. Steve Delaney
[18:46] in Tel Aviv has some details on what the
[18:48] Bean plan is. NBC News has learned that
[18:52] what Began is after is an overall peace
[18:54] plan. He wants separate peace treaties
[18:56] with Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. There
[18:59] would be territorial concessions on the
[19:00] Golan Heights to the Syrians and in the
[19:02] Sinai to the Egyptians, but nothing much
[19:04] on the West Bank. Began is willing to
[19:07] give the West Bank residents more local
[19:08] autonomy and to remove some of the
[19:10] Israeli army, but no territory would
[19:13] change hands. As for the PLO, that
[19:16] question, he says, is to be resolved
[19:17] once the Geneva Conference gets going
[19:19] again. The only thing wrong with the
[19:21] Bean plan is that the Arabs won't buy
[19:23] it. It doesn't settle the Palestinian
[19:25] question and it doesn't return all the
[19:27] captured Arab lands from 1967.
[19:30] What it does do though is give Bean
[19:32] authorship of a plan. So if the Middle
[19:35] East peace search bogs down into
[19:37] sterility again, Bean can say it's not
[19:40] his fault.
[19:42] If the talks fail, it will be because of
[19:44] the West Bank, the area the Arabs want
[19:46] back most and the Israelis want to give
[19:48] up least. The key point in the
[19:50] discussions will be how to resolve
[19:52] President Carter's talk of a Palestinian
[19:54] entity with Mr. Bean's determination to
[19:56] retain the area for military and
[19:58] spiritual reasons.
[20:00] President Carter needs a good conference
[20:02] with Bean to retain his position as
[20:04] chief peace broker for the Middle East,
[20:06] but there's not much pressure he can
[20:08] bring to bear. The Israelis have
[20:10] received American weapons for their
[20:12] earlier concessions. such a vast arsenal
[20:15] of weapons that began is virtually
[20:17] immune now from the threat of an arms
[20:19] embargo if he does not go along with the
[20:21] American plan.
[20:23] So to prevent a new stalemate in the
[20:25] Middle East, the Americans may now have
[20:27] to put the squeeze on the Arab side. At
[20:30] least that's the attitude Bean is taking
[20:32] to Washington. Steve Delaney, NBC News,
[20:35] Jerusalem.
[20:37] The two Filipino nurses are convicted of
[20:40] poisoning hospital patients are free on
[20:43] bond and will remain so. The prosecution
[20:46] objected saying they might leave the
[20:48] country and return to the Philippines to
[20:50] avoid prison. The judge said he didn't
[20:52] think so. So, they're out on bond of
[20:54] $75,000 each.
[20:58] Jane Young, the wife of a Texas
[21:00] congressman who figured in last year's
[21:02] congressional sex scandal, was shot to
[21:04] death today and the police thought it
[21:06] was suicide.
[21:08] In California's so-called trash bag
[21:10] murders, three murder indictments have
[21:13] been returned against Patrick Carney. At
[21:15] least 28 young men, mainly homosexuals,
[21:18] have been killed. Charges against his
[21:20] friend David Hill have been dropped.
[21:28] A bread with fewer calories than yogurt.
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[21:33] calories than a cup of plain yogurt or
[21:35] gelatin.
[21:36] >> A bread with as much fiber as brand
[21:39] cereal.
[21:39] >> Two slices of fresh horizons have as
[21:42] much crude fiber as two bowls of brand
[21:44] cereal or all this celery.
[21:47] >> Fewer calories than yogurt.
[21:49] >> As much crude fiber as brand cereal.
[21:51] >> Fresh Horizons. Wheat and white. We add
[21:54] fiber and take out calories.
[21:57] >> This is my husband and this big hunk of
[22:00] a man is the light of my life.
[22:02] >> And this is some terrific woman. All 105
[22:04] lbs of her. And with the kids and the
[22:07] house and your job. I just don't know
[22:09] how you do it.
[22:10] >> Well, I take real good care of myself. I
[22:12] get my rest, exercise,
[22:14] >> and you take Geratl. Geratl to make sure
[22:17] you get enough iron and some very
[22:19] important vitamins. Take a look at what
[22:22] Geratl can do for you.
[22:24] Geratl every day.
[22:27] Oh, here's the jam.
[22:29] >> Mom says it's for our little league
[22:31] dinner, Mr. Smith.
[22:32] >> Thanks. More meatloaf.
[22:35] >> You know that plastic wrap is opening.
[22:37] >> Well, sometimes plastic wraps cling.
[22:38] Sometimes they don't. You can't always
[22:40] rely on them. You can rely on Reynolds
[22:42] wrap.
[22:44] It molds and seals tightly. So, it
[22:46] really protects. And I can reheat in it,
[22:49] too.
[22:50] >> You and Reynolds wrap can join our team.
[22:53] Reynolds Wrap, the best rap around.
[22:59] >> Lee McCarthy of our staff has been busy
[23:01] all day trying to find out what caused
[23:03] all the lights to go out and almost
[23:05] everything else to stop. Lee, what
[23:08] caused it?
[23:08] >> Well, David, there was a heavy demand
[23:10] for electricity yesterday. It was hot
[23:12] and muggy in New York, the temperatures
[23:13] in the 80s. And about 8:30 last evening,
[23:16] a storm moved in north of the city, and
[23:18] it hit in two key locations with
[23:20] lightning. one at transmission lines
[23:22] that were bringing electricity down that
[23:23] had been purchased by Con Edison and
[23:25] also at a substation in Westchester
[23:27] County. Both points fed into Indian
[23:29] Point, which is a major nuclear station
[23:32] on the Hudson River. There are three
[23:34] plants at Indian Point, but only one was
[23:36] operating. And the first plant had been
[23:38] shut down in 1974 for non-compliance
[23:40] with federal regulations. The second
[23:42] plant was shut down for emergency
[23:44] repairs. The third plant was operating
[23:46] at about near capacity. and then coming
[23:49] down here,
[23:50] >> right? Feeding on down into New York
[23:51] City. But when this power was reduced,
[23:53] there was an automatic cut off at Indian
[23:55] Point and the plant shut down. Now, when
[23:57] that happened, the technicians here in
[23:59] the crisis center on the west side of
[24:01] Manhattan, the center operated by Con
[24:02] Ed, tried to take emergency steps to
[24:05] keep their system alive. None of the
[24:07] steps worked. When that happened, Big
[24:09] Alice, which is a major generating plant
[24:11] on the east side of Manhattan,
[24:13] automatically kicked out and went out of
[24:15] the system. And Big Alice was the last
[24:17] straw. Then the smaller plant shut down
[24:18] at about 9:30 New York was dark.
[24:20] >> It all hangs by a thread, doesn't it?
[24:22] >> It certainly does. And it happened 12
[24:25] years ago, of course, and steps were
[24:26] taken at that time by Con Edison to
[24:28] install safety devices. But yesterday,
[24:30] they didn't work the way they were
[24:31] supposed to work. And today, the man who
[24:33] heads Coned, Charles Loose, said that
[24:36] it's time to go back to the drawing
[24:37] boards.
[24:39] >> We're going to uh restudy the the uh
[24:42] protective devices that we put in. We've
[24:44] already had underway before this
[24:46] happened a study uh and a capital
[24:49] improvement program at the uh control
[24:52] center to improve the instrumentation at
[24:54] the control center. Uh but I'll say this
[24:58] that on any statistical comparison of
[25:00] Khan Edison with any other utility in
[25:02] the United States, our reliability is
[25:05] the best in the United States.
[25:08] The mayor of New York, Abraham Beam, who
[25:10] incidentally is running for reelection,
[25:11] came out today angry and swinging and
[25:14] attacking Consolidated Edison, and he
[25:16] said a lot, including this.
[25:19] >> I want to express first my total outrage
[25:22] that at this hour, the city of New York
[25:26] is still without power and the prospects
[25:29] for restoration of full electrical
[25:31] service remain vague as far as ConEd is
[25:35] concerned.
[25:37] And given what occurred 12 years ago,
[25:40] Coned's performance is at the very least
[25:43] gross negligence and at the worst far
[25:46] more serious.
[25:48] Lee, considering all the asurances we
[25:50] have had in the past, which did not turn
[25:52] out, could this happen again?
[25:54] >> Yes, it could. And it could happen
[25:56] almost anywhere, David, in any city in
[25:58] the country. I posed that question to a
[26:00] spokesman for the Federal Power
[26:01] Commission today and he said, "Well, it
[26:03] shouldn't happen in any other city, but
[26:04] then it wasn't supposed to happen in New
[26:06] York."
[26:06] >> So, anybody could no one can be certain
[26:09] this won't happen where he lives
[26:11] tomorrow morning.
[26:11] >> It cannot be guaranteed that uh it will
[26:13] not happen anywhere.
[26:14] >> Okay. Thank you. More pictures and
[26:17] details on New York's desperate ordeal
[26:20] on a special program from NBC News
[26:22] tonight at 11:30 Eastern time. Thank you
[26:26] and good night for all of us at NBC
[26:28] News.
[26:33] >> Hey, great looking treads, Kathy.
[26:35] >> Good radial TA. Lucy,
[26:37] >> what are you doing?
[26:38] >> Checking the air pressure. My Goodrich
[26:39] dealer says it's a good idea.
[26:41] >> What for?
[26:42] >> Well, if you don't have the right air
[26:43] pressure, the tires won't last as long.
[26:45] Goodri makes a great tire.
[26:47] >> Hey, come to the game, Kathy. I could
[26:48] get your ride on the Goodrich blimp.
[26:51] >> Goodri doesn't have a blimp, Lucy.
[26:55] Does that mean you won't come to the
[26:56] game?
[26:57] >> Tires you can trust. BF Goodrich, the
[26:59] other guys.
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[27:30] swelling of hemorrhoidal tissues.
[28:26] Hello, I'm Edwin Newman. They said that
[28:28] what hit New York City 12 years ago
[28:30] couldn't happen again. It did. Tonight,
[28:33] we have an NBC News special about it.
[28:35] Darkness takes the city. The blackout
[28:37] followed today by looting, vandalism,
[28:39] burning. We'll report on the latest
[28:42] developments tonight at 11:30, 10:30
[28:44] central on NBC.
[28:47] What better way for the whole family to
[28:49] spend a glorious fun-filled day than at
[28:52] fantabulous Beach Bend Park with its
[28:54] many rides, exciting drag racing, and
[28:56] just plain old relax it where something
[28:59] special is always going on.
[29:02] This weekend, Spider-Man for the kids,
[29:05] the amazing rhythm aces for the team.