World News Tonight (ABC) - 1999-06-28

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Tonight

[0:03] >> on World News Tonight this Monday, the

[0:05] government's in the money. A budget

[0:07] surplus much bigger than expected.

[0:10] Individual Americans are in the money,

[0:12] spending more than ever. We'll take a

[0:14] closer look. The freest gun market in

[0:17] the world and the gun makers who take

[0:19] advantage. And we'll visit one of the

[0:22] four corners of the world where the surf

[0:24] is up and the smoking down.

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

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

[0:40] Peter Jennings.

[0:41] >> Good evening. We begin tonight with a

[0:42] debate about the extra trillion dollars.

[0:44] When the president said today that

[0:46] because the economy is so strong, the

[0:49] annual budget surplus is bigger than

[0:51] anticipated, he touched off another very

[0:53] important round of debate about what to

[0:55] do with the extra money. Medicare,

[0:58] Social Security, the national debt tax

[1:00] cuts. That's where the debate will be

[1:02] focused in Washington. And we start with

[1:05] ABC's Jackie Jud.

[1:08] >> The economic news, the president said,

[1:10] was even better than expected. A budget

[1:12] surplus $20 billion larger than forecast

[1:15] for this year, $179 billion larger over

[1:19] 5 years, and a trillion dollar larger

[1:22] over 15 years. The surplus is the

[1:25] hard-earned product of our fiscal

[1:27] discipline. We should use it to prepare

[1:30] for the great challenges facing our

[1:32] country.

[1:32] >> The president's chief of staff put it

[1:34] more bluntly.

[1:35] >> What we intend to do with it is a big

[1:37] damn deal.

[1:38] >> What they intend to do is use the bulk

[1:40] of the surplus on two key retirement

[1:42] programs. For Medicare, $794 billion.

[1:47] That would include first time ever

[1:49] coverage for prescription drugs. for

[1:51] Social Security, $543 billion. Social

[1:56] Security payroll taxes would help retire

[1:58] the national debt. Money that would have

[2:00] been spent to pay interest on the debt

[2:03] would instead be put into the Social

[2:04] Security trust fund to keep it solvent.

[2:07] What the administration's plan does not

[2:09] include is a broad-based tax cut. Let's

[2:12] have the discipline to not do all of the

[2:15] spending and tax cuts we might all like

[2:17] or might be popular until we've done

[2:20] what we have to do.

[2:21] >> Congressional Republicans disagree.

[2:24] >> Tax cuts are a very high priority

[2:26] because it's obvious the American people

[2:28] in view of the growing economy uh

[2:30] they're being overt taxed.

[2:32] >> President Clinton anticipating the fight

[2:33] ahead already is hinting that the door

[2:36] is not entirely closed to an

[2:38] acrosstheboard tax cut. But what both

[2:40] sides would agree on is this. Having a

[2:42] surplus of money is a good problem to

[2:45] have. Peter,

[2:46] >> thank you, Jackie. Jackie J at the White

[2:47] House today. While the president wants

[2:49] to use part of the budget surplus to

[2:51] ensure the financial stability of

[2:52] Medicare over the next 25 years, he's

[2:55] also proposing that a portion be used to

[2:57] create a costly new addition to the

[3:00] program. He wants to give all 39 million

[3:03] people who receive Medicare the option

[3:05] of getting their prescription drugs paid

[3:08] for. Here's ABC's John Cochran.

[3:11] >> Oh, really?

[3:12] >> The president's plan is expected to

[3:14] provide 50% of prescription drug costs

[3:16] of no more than $5,000 a year. Medicare

[3:20] recipients could either reject the

[3:21] president's offer, or if they accept it,

[3:24] pay an additional premium on top of what

[3:26] they now pay for basic Medicare

[3:28] coverage.

[3:29] >> It asks people to pay a modest premium

[3:32] and some cost sharing uh for a benefit

[3:34] that it's far better than they can get

[3:36] in the private sector. Republicans want

[3:38] some drug coverage, but think the

[3:39] president's plan may be too ambitious.

[3:42] >> We all know that Medicare is going

[3:43] broke. We don't need to add another very

[3:46] costly program onto a program that's

[3:48] already going broke.

[3:50] >> There is a reason President Clinton

[3:51] would make both the new benefits and the

[3:53] premiums voluntary. Everyone in this

[3:55] town remembers what happened 10 years

[3:57] ago when all Medicare premiums were

[3:59] raised to provide catastrophic and

[4:01] prescription coverage. Some older people

[4:04] surrounded the car of a powerful

[4:05] congressman, Dan Rostinowski, and

[4:08] demanded that the higher premiums be

[4:10] repealed. A frightened Congress did just

[4:12] that. Now, under the Clinton plan, the

[4:14] government would help the very poor pay

[4:16] their premiums, but everyone else who

[4:18] chooses to take coverage would pay the

[4:20] same premiums no matter what their

[4:22] income. And I think it makes no sense to

[4:25] say that a Ross Bau, for instance, is

[4:26] going to pay the same price for his

[4:28] prescription drugs package as a a lady

[4:31] in Louisiana who's barely outside of the

[4:33] poverty line. Both Republicans and

[4:35] Democrats say there should be drug

[4:37] coverage, at least for low-income older

[4:38] people. That does not mean it will

[4:40] happen. Politicians know that changing

[4:42] Medicare is dangerous. They could decide

[4:44] that doing nothing is less dangerous.

[4:47] John Cochran, ABC News, Washington. On

[4:50] Wall Street today, many investors seem

[4:52] to be convinced that the Federal Reserve

[4:53] will raise interest rates only slightly

[4:56] later this week. The Dow Jones

[4:58] Industrial Average was up more than 102

[5:00] points to close at 10,655.

[5:04] On the Nasdaq, stocks were up 49 points.

[5:08] In other news today, another facet of

[5:09] the gun debate that is beginning to get

[5:11] more attention. The United Nations tells

[5:13] us that 29 countries have now tightened

[5:16] the rules on gun ownership so

[5:18] considerably that it is more difficult

[5:20] for the gun manufacturers to sell their

[5:22] product. Now, none of those countries

[5:24] has a second amendment. And so that

[5:26] makes the United States an important

[5:28] market. Guns, like any other product,

[5:31] end up where they are welcome. Here's

[5:33] ABC's Lisa Stark.

[5:37] >> In 1997, 2 million new handguns went on

[5:40] the market in the US. About half of

[5:42] those were made by foreignowned

[5:44] companies whose own governments severely

[5:47] restrict, even ban the sale of those

[5:50] very same guns.

[5:52] >> The United States has been described as

[5:54] the last great market. It is literally

[5:57] the only large market left in the world

[6:00] where handguns can be sold freely to

[6:02] civilians.

[6:03] >> Some of the most well-known American gun

[6:05] makers are now foreignowned. Smith and

[6:08] Wesson is held by a British firm, but

[6:10] its handguns are not sold in England.

[6:12] There, two years ago, citizens were

[6:14] ordered to turn in handguns. Laws are so

[6:17] strict, the British Olympic shooting

[6:20] team, which uses guns like these, had to

[6:23] practice in France. Other big gun makers

[6:26] that sell in the US include Glock of

[6:28] Austria, Browning of Belgium, Beretta of

[6:30] Italy, and Taurus of Brazil. If you look

[6:33] at any dangerous commodities, whether

[6:35] it's gasoline with lead in it, whether

[6:37] it's cigarettes, uh, uh, you name it,

[6:40] basically, as markets flatten because of

[6:43] regulation, companies look elsewhere to

[6:45] sell their goods.

[6:46] >> Just like the camera you're using here

[6:47] is made in another country, uh, we're in

[6:49] a world market today, and there's free

[6:51] enterprise.

[6:52] >> And so far in this political season,

[6:54] Congress sees no reason to change that,

[6:56] leaving gun makers and sellers a

[6:58] lucrative and legal US market. Lisa

[7:02] Stark, ABC News, Washington.

[7:04] >> Just one other item from Washington. The

[7:06] Clinton's friend, Webster Hubble, has

[7:07] reached a plea agreement with the

[7:09] independent council Kenneth Star. Mr.

[7:11] Hubble will plead guilty to lying about

[7:13] a land deal and a tax charge. We don't

[7:16] know his penalty yet, but he will not go

[7:18] to jail, and the deal means that Mrs.

[7:20] Clinton, who had been named as a

[7:22] possible witness, will not have to

[7:24] testify.

[7:25] A little later in the broadcast,

[7:27] spending is up and traditional savings

[7:29] are down. Might that be why the good

[7:32] times roll on? And when we come back,

[7:35] staying put in Kosovo, some Serbs

[7:38] wouldn't think of leaving.

[7:42] This is World News Tonight with Peter

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[9:52] What does it cost to run a bombing

[9:54] campaign for 78 days? An independent

[9:56] research organization says the total

[9:58] bill for NATO's air war against

[10:00] Yugoslavia could run to $4 billion. The

[10:04] Center for Strategic and Budgetary

[10:05] Assessment says the US portion of the

[10:08] bill could be as high as $3 billion. The

[10:11] leaders of the Serbian Orthodox Church

[10:13] appealed to the world today to prevent

[10:15] what they called ethnic cleansing in

[10:16] reverse. Their concern is for Serbs

[10:19] still living in Kosovo and for the Serbs

[10:21] holiest shrines which are in the

[10:23] province. Today, church leaders held an

[10:25] emotional anniversary ceremony to

[10:28] commemorate what the Serbs regard as

[10:30] their heroic defeat by the Turks in 1389

[10:34] on the field of Blackbirds. As ABC's

[10:37] Terry Moran reports from Kosovo tonight,

[10:39] he says the kind of thing the Serbian

[10:41] leaders are concerned about, other Serbs

[10:44] are concerned about.

[10:48] The village of Pan in southern Kosovo

[10:50] has so far escaped the ravages of ethnic

[10:52] violence because every person living

[10:54] here is Serbian. Serbs have lived here

[10:57] for centuries. Demetria Buitch says 10

[11:00] generations of his family are buried

[11:02] here. In America, he says it may make

[11:05] sense to move around, but here we are

[11:07] attached to our land. The Serbs here are

[11:10] hardcore traditionalists who are

[11:11] determined not to let ethnic Albanians

[11:14] or NATO troops threaten them. And while

[11:16] this village is in the American sector,

[11:19] this is the nearest Marine checkpoint

[11:21] almost 2 miles out of town. The Marines

[11:23] have established no permanent presence

[11:25] here. And American officers told us they

[11:27] felt this was a dangerous place. But the

[11:30] Serbs of Posane feel they are besieged.

[11:33] In this village, just like a prison,

[11:36] >> there is only one main road out of

[11:37] Panee. and it runs through three ethnic

[11:40] Albanian villages. The Serbs are scared

[11:42] to travel for supplies. The shops here

[11:45] have run out of food. We don't have

[11:47] electricity. Our phones are not working.

[11:49] And our people cannot get medical

[11:51] services like dialysis, says this man.

[11:53] Their fears may be justified. This man

[11:56] says his father disappeared from his

[11:58] home outside the village 5 days ago. The

[12:01] Marines say some Serbs here are out

[12:03] looking for trouble. And the Marines say

[12:04] they have seized some, but certainly not

[12:06] all, weapons from the villagers.

[12:08] >> It's just an intense community, which

[12:12] would make anyone

[12:14] a little weary.

[12:15] >> The Serbs of Pane are determined to stay

[12:17] here. They say they will fight for their

[12:19] land to the last man. Terry Moran, ABC

[12:23] News, Pan Kosovo.

[12:25] >> Some other international news in Moscow

[12:27] today. Hard to break a Russian

[12:29] tradition. President Boris Yelson

[12:31] toasting a group of military academy

[12:33] graduates despite the warnings from his

[12:37] doctors. In China today, Teneamman

[12:39] Square reopened after a 12 million

[12:41] renovation. 10 years ago, the army was

[12:44] sent into this vast square to end the

[12:45] studentled democracy demonstrations, and

[12:48] the renovations have included a lot of

[12:49] new grass and some tank proof paving.

[12:54] North of the Arctic Circle today, a

[12:56] remarkable example of nature at its

[12:58] crulest. Polar bears have been preying

[13:00] on a group of beluga whales trapped by

[13:02] the shifting ice. The bears wait until

[13:05] the whales come up for air and then

[13:07] attack. Many of the whales have been so

[13:10] badly injured that the bears are then

[13:12] able to pull them onto the east onto the

[13:14] ice and finish them off. In a moment,

[13:18] whatever happened to saving for a rainy

[13:20] day? We'll take a closer look.

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[15:32] >> The government gave us its monthly

[15:34] picture of the consumer economy today.

[15:36] In May, we learned that personal income

[15:38] was up4%.

[15:40] The savings rate is at an all-time low,

[15:42] which we'll get to in a minute, and

[15:44] spending was up 6% in May. We're going

[15:46] to take a closer look tonight at the

[15:48] great American spending spree, a sign of

[15:51] the highf flying economic times for so

[15:53] many people. There is no question now

[15:55] that the 10 years into the longest

[15:57] economic boom in history, Americans are

[16:00] buying and buying at a torid pace.

[16:03] First, here's ABC's Betsy Stark.

[16:07] No doubt about it, the trappings of the

[16:10] American dream have gone upscale.

[16:13] About 20 million Americans have plunked

[16:15] down around $2,000 to own big screen

[16:18] Sony TVs.

[16:19] >> As soon as we get them in, we sell

[16:21] straight out of them.

[16:22] >> Mercedes says more women and more young

[16:24] people are now buying its cars, even at

[16:27] $50,000 and up.

[16:29] >> How are those S-Class models selling

[16:30] those luxury models?

[16:32] >> You're probably at about a six-month

[16:33] wait. Luxury watch makers also report

[16:35] waiting lists. Retailers say they cannot

[16:38] keep this $1,300 stainless steel watch

[16:41] by Tag Hoyer in stock.

[16:43] >> We're even taking special orders now for

[16:45] a new model they're introducing this

[16:47] fall, which is the alter ego with

[16:49] diamonds.

[16:50] >> Consumption has not been this

[16:52] conspicuous since the 1980s. Consumer

[16:55] spending and consumer borrowing are at

[16:57] record levels, and Americans are going

[17:00] deeper and deeper into debt to finance

[17:02] their buying binge. Consumer debt is now

[17:05] growing at an astonishing 10% a year.

[17:08] >> In the past, people um often use the

[17:12] good times to save up for the bad. Um,

[17:15] but if people are taking on a lot of

[17:16] debt in the good times, um, then they're

[17:19] more likely to be in dire straits, go

[17:22] bankrupt when, uh, the economy turns

[17:24] down.

[17:26] >> But saving for a rainy day is just not

[17:28] in fashion these days. Judging from the

[17:31] boom in the luxury housing market, these

[17:34] luxury homes in New Jersey are selling

[17:36] so well, the builder recently raised the

[17:38] base price by $30,000 just to slow down

[17:41] demand. And even at the higher price,

[17:44] there are plenty of buyers. And most of

[17:46] those buyers, many of the middle class

[17:49] and upper middle class working people

[17:51] like Pam and Tony Eper, are willing to

[17:53] pay for a little extra luxury, typically

[17:56] by taking on bigger mortgages.

[17:59] >> One thing that you really like is that

[18:00] jacuzzi.

[18:01] >> Sure. Nice big jacuzzi tub.

[18:03] >> Fancy appliances or extra rooms or

[18:05] granite countertops. The list is really

[18:08] endless. It's not unusual to have 100 to

[18:10] $150,000 of upgrades in a given house.

[18:14] >> Four, five, and 6,000 square foot

[18:16] McMansions are going up in subdivisions

[18:20] with pools and tennis courts all over

[18:22] the country as Americans play a new

[18:25] game. No longer keeping up with the

[18:27] Joneses, now it's the Gates's.

[18:31] Betsy Stark, ABC News, New York. So,

[18:35] with all the money that so many people

[18:36] are putting into luxuries these days,

[18:38] though, keeping up with the Gates's as

[18:40] in Bill Gates is a stretch, it doesn't

[18:42] leave much of a cushion in the savings

[18:44] account. As we said, the savings rate is

[18:46] at an all-time low. People are actually

[18:49] spending their savings and then some.

[18:52] However, once again, let's take a closer

[18:54] look. Many economists now agree that the

[18:56] old-fashioned measurement of savings

[18:59] doesn't really reflect the new fashioned

[19:01] world of money. Here's ABC's John

[19:03] Martin.

[19:06] >> Ever since the Great Depression,

[19:07] Americans have been told that personal

[19:09] savings are the backbone of a balanced

[19:11] economy.

[19:13] But the lay of the land has changed.

[19:16] What people have is no longer measured

[19:18] just by their savings accounts.

[19:20] Government statistics do not always show

[19:22] this new reality.

[19:24] >> Wealth continues to rise and people are

[19:26] saving by means that are not calculated

[19:28] in the rate of personal saving.

[19:30] Economists say Americans are saving

[19:32] money in different ways these days.

[19:34] Through the value of their investments

[19:36] in the stock market, through the rising

[19:38] equity in their homes as sales prices go

[19:41] up, even through the money they gain

[19:42] from refinancing their mortgages to take

[19:45] advantage of lower interest rates. By

[19:47] one estimate, this alone added $60

[19:50] billion in saved payments to people's

[19:52] incomes. Money not counted by the

[19:55] government in measuring savings. One

[19:57] analyst says it is spending, not

[19:59] savings, that has kept the American

[20:01] economy booming.

[20:02] >> We probably would have had a recession

[20:04] without that negative savings rate. And

[20:06] if not a recession, a very slow period

[20:07] of growth.

[20:08] >> So despite the continued importance of

[20:10] saving for possible difficult times

[20:12] ahead, it's possible that all the

[20:14] spending right now is sustaining the

[20:16] current economic expansion. John Martin,

[20:19] ABC News, Washington.

[20:22] >> Closer look for today. When we come

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[20:59] there's a leave. A leave has a strength

[21:01] to work all day long with just two

[21:04] pills. It would take eight Tylenol to do

[21:06] that. So if the pain reliever you use

[21:08] doesn't work the way you want, fire it.

[21:11] Fire it and take a leave. Two pills. All

[21:14] day relief. Works for me.

[21:17] >> And now a leave comes in fast acting gel

[21:19] caps. People

[21:22] say in the town of Flatwoods, the most

[21:24] exciting thing to do is sit around and

[21:26] watch the paint dry. Especially when

[21:29] it's Bare Premium Plus, only from the

[21:31] Home Depot.

[21:32] >> It's going on so smoothly.

[21:33] >> Nice color.

[21:35] >> It's 100% acrylic. It's like putting a

[21:37] plastic shell on your house.

[21:39] >> And since Bear has a lifetime guarantee,

[21:42] these people know they won't be seeing

[21:43] this much excitement again for quite a

[21:46] while. Bear Premium Plus. The premium

[21:48] paint with a Home Depot price.

[22:18] Chevy Tahoe like a rock.

[22:22] >> Great meal.

[22:23] >> Uh-oh. Gas pressure. What now? What

[22:26] else? Gas X with the most powerful

[22:28] medicine for fast relief. Nothing works

[22:30] faster. Hey, want to go for ice cream?

[22:33] Gas X. The power to fight gas fast.

[22:36] When you buy a bargain basement PC, what

[22:38] you're really buying is a mystery box.

[22:40] Will there be a monitor? Probably not.

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[23:02] Celeron processor.

[23:10] Is it the thick, rich chocolate flavor?

[23:14] Is it the soft, luscious cherry flavor?

[23:18] Or the way it yields to the gentlest

[23:20] bite?

[23:22] Or is it the fact that 500 mg of bone

[23:26] strengthening calcium doesn't come in a

[23:28] big honking horse?

[23:32] Calburst from Nature Made. Have some

[23:35] pleasure with your calcium.

[23:37] TV drama at its finest.

[23:40] This episode is the season's best. I'll

[23:43] take care of her. Jimmy Smith's very

[23:45] last. NYPD Blue. ABC Tuesday at 9:30,

[23:49] 8:30 Central. Viewer discretion advised.

[23:53] >> Just before our last story, one of those

[23:54] irresistible moments which we all love.

[23:57] In Milwaukee today, a blind golfer made

[24:00] a hole in one.

[24:01] >> There you go. Right.

[24:06] >> WHOA.

[24:08] >> Worth Dalton was his name. Par three

[24:10] during a charity tournament. He didn't

[24:12] even start playing golf until he went

[24:13] blind 19 years ago. A coach usually

[24:16] helps him line up his shots. Great.

[24:19] Finally, this evening, one of those,

[24:21] excuse me, classic examples of how one

[24:23] thing leads to another. This began with

[24:26] a group of American surfers who make an

[24:29] annual pilgrimage to one of the really

[24:30] lovely four corners of the world, the

[24:33] island nation of Fiji in the South

[24:35] Pacific, where, as Mike Lee reports

[24:38] tonight, one thing led to another.

[24:44] In this remote and exotic corner of the

[24:46] South Pacific, a small miracle began

[24:48] like this.

[24:51] A group of American surfers who also

[24:53] happen to be doctors, nurses, and

[24:55] paramedics began coming to Fiji 12 years

[24:57] ago for working vacations. The Surfers

[25:00] Medical Association had only two rules,

[25:05] surf all day,

[25:08] and at night discuss medicine.

[25:10] >> It's been shown that it's best to give

[25:12] this medicine intraarterly,

[25:15] not introvenously.

[25:18] Then one day the surfing doctors were

[25:19] asked to come and help the nearby

[25:21] village of Nabila, home to 200 people

[25:23] and not a single doctor.

[25:25] >> That hurt. Where does that hurt?

[25:27] >> Some of the disorders that are most

[25:28] common among the Fijian, diabetes and

[25:30] hypertension are really made worse by

[25:32] smoking.

[25:33] >> Most of the men in Nila were heavy

[25:35] smokers, victims of what the doctors

[25:37] call a typical third world tobacco

[25:39] blitz. Lots of advertising. And to get

[25:41] the villagers hooked, say the doctors,

[25:43] cigarette companies gave out free

[25:45] samples. They told us that a smoke is

[25:48] your best. It's make you

[25:52] happy when you are said and cigarette is

[25:55] free for beginning and the next time

[25:57] they have to buy it.

[25:59] >> Most male adults in the bila did buy

[26:01] spending up to 2/3 of their meager

[26:03] income on cigarettes.

[26:05] >> I just keep a money for my smoke. I

[26:07] don't thought about my kids about school

[26:09] or anything like that. So the doctors

[26:12] began their own private war here against

[26:14] the tobacco industry. Their goal was to

[26:17] convince the leaders of Nibila that

[26:19] they, like other third world cultures,

[26:21] had been misled by tobacco companies,

[26:23] that cigarettes were killing them,

[26:26] that their children would become

[26:28] addicted, that the economic drain was

[26:30] bankrupting the entire village. But

[26:32] logic alone was not enough. By

[26:35] tradition, the villagers believe and

[26:36] trust only close friends. So the doctors

[26:39] became involved in village life, helping

[26:41] to pay for housing,

[26:44] >> playing soccer,

[26:46] >> going to church, building trust and

[26:49] respect.

[26:51] In other words, they say using the

[26:53] tobacco industry's own techniques of

[26:55] persuasion. This is all about image

[26:58] about who can establish

[27:00] an honorable interesting

[27:04] and respected image in the eyes of the

[27:07] village.

[27:08] >> After 5 years spent getting to know the

[27:11] doctors, the Nabila village elders took

[27:13] a vote and decided the Americans were

[27:15] right that the entire village should

[27:17] quit smoking.

[27:19] The elders even added their own form of

[27:21] persuasion, an old-fashioned curse or

[27:23] taboo cast upon anyone who starts

[27:25] smoking again.

[27:27] >> The taboo, you know, it really kicked it

[27:29] in and um really produced results.

[27:35] >> So, in a world full of smokers, one tiny

[27:38] village has heard the facts, feared the

[27:40] curse, and quit.

[27:43] And all because a few American doctors

[27:45] are addicted to the surf.

[27:48] Mike Lee, ABC News, Fiji in the South

[27:51] Pacific.

[27:52] >> That is our report on World News

[27:54] Tonight. Later on, 2020, information

[27:57] brokers who steal your privacy. I'm

[27:59] Peter Jennings. Have a good evening. See

[28:01] you tomorrow, I hope. Good night.

[28:08] Tomorrow, terrifying panic in the sky.

[28:11] New technology that can take some of the

[28:13] fear out of flying. Watch ABC's World

[28:15] News Tonight with Peter Jennings.

[28:18] >> This has been a presentation of ABC

[28:20] News. More Americans get their news from

[28:22] ABC News than from any other source.

[28:25] abcnews.com, now a part of the Go

[28:27] Network.