NBC Nightly News - 2000-08-20

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:08] From NBC News World Headquarters in New

[0:11] York, this is NBC Nightly News reported

[0:15] by John Seanthaler.

[0:18] >> Good evening everyone. We begin tonight

[0:20] in New Mexico with the investigation

[0:22] into the deadliest natural gas pipeline

[0:25] explosion in recent years. 10 died when

[0:28] an underground pipeline ruptured this

[0:30] weekend, showering flames on a nearby

[0:32] campsite, melting their tents and

[0:35] sleeping bags. It happened along the

[0:36] Pacos River at a campground about 25

[0:39] miles south of Carl'sbad, New Mexico.

[0:42] NBC's Larry Weidman is at the scene

[0:44] tonight. Good evening, Larry.

[0:46] >> John, every day a billion feet, cubic

[0:48] feet of natural gas passes through three

[0:50] pipelines buried under this spot. But

[0:53] this weekend, something went terribly

[0:55] wrong.

[0:57] The force of the blast dug a crater 85

[1:00] ft long, 45 ft wide, and 20 ft deep.

[1:03] Fire was visible 30 m away. The flames

[1:07] swept over 12 members of an extended

[1:09] family camped a few hundred feet away

[1:11] from ground zero.

[1:12] >> It was uh obviously a scene of a very

[1:14] intense heat. Uh coolers were melted. Uh

[1:18] tent poles with no tents uh were lying

[1:22] on the ground. Uh uh there just wasn't

[1:25] much left. It was a It was a lot of

[1:26] destruction

[1:27] >> and death. 10 of the family are dead,

[1:30] five of them children. Today,

[1:32] investigators from the National

[1:33] Transportation Safety Board moved in to

[1:35] begin looking for answers. The pipeline

[1:38] belongs to El Paso Energy based in

[1:40] Houston. Uh

[1:40] >> we saw no indication that it was third

[1:42] party damage or foul play. It it does

[1:45] appear that the pipeline ruptured under

[1:47] underground. The pipe welded in 40ft

[1:49] sections is 30 in in diameter, a third

[1:52] of an inch thick, and made of steel

[1:54] coated with colar enamel to prevent

[1:56] rust. But it's also 50 years old and

[1:59] inspected only from the outside.

[2:02] >> There are a lot of valves and turns in

[2:04] the pipeline. So, this part of the

[2:06] pipeline uh is not capable of being

[2:08] inspected internally.

[2:10] >> The NTSB says there are nearly 2 million

[2:12] miles of natural gas pipelines

[2:14] crisscrossing the United States. A bill

[2:16] pending in Congress would require more

[2:18] frequent inspections of all types of

[2:20] pipelines. Little comfort to the friends

[2:23] and neighbors of the victims in this

[2:24] corner of New Mexico. Heavy equipment

[2:27] has been brought in to begin repair work

[2:29] to restore at least some natural gas

[2:31] delivery through these pipelines.

[2:34] Two survivors, both adults, remain in

[2:36] very critical condition. John

[2:38] >> NBC's Larry Weidman. Thank you. Some

[2:41] frightening moments in North Carolina. A

[2:44] roaring fire after an apparent natural

[2:46] gas explosion at a construction site

[2:48] across the highway from the Conquered

[2:50] Hills Mall about 20 miles northeast of

[2:53] Charlotte. The shopping center was

[2:55] evacuated. No injuries were reported.

[2:59] The latest on that Russian submarine in

[3:01] just a moment.

[3:04] >> Welcome.

[3:05] >> Nice place.

[3:08] >> Is that Evander Holyfield?

[3:11] >> Pardon? It's kind of a funny story.

[3:13] last. He saved my life. So,

[3:15] >> and there's you and Marilyn Monroe.

[3:18] >> Yeah, she's great. What a cook.

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[3:32] >> Uh, nuts.

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[3:52] >> It's allergy season

[3:56] or Algra season.

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[5:20] Now to the Russian nuclear submarine

[5:22] Kursk, which sank in the Barrett Sea

[5:24] eight days ago. With little hope that

[5:26] any of the 118 sailors on board are

[5:29] still alive, there is uncertainty about

[5:31] the next step as rescue crews stand by

[5:34] in the waters 80 miles north of the port

[5:37] city of Merman. We begin our coverage

[5:39] with NBC's Ron Allen.

[5:42] >> Today, a team of Norwegian divers headed

[5:44] 350 ft down to the floor of the Barren

[5:47] Sea. Their video camera showed the first

[5:49] look at the devastated Russian nuclear

[5:51] submarine.

[5:54] With specially designed hammers, they

[5:56] searched for air pockets, which might

[5:58] sustain life, but no sign of survivors.

[6:01] The divers target the sub's rear hatch,

[6:03] but after hours of trying, can't open

[6:05] it. Up on the surface, the crew tries to

[6:08] make tools that will help. In the

[6:11] control room, Russian commanders watched

[6:13] the Norwegians do what they could not.

[6:15] The Russian Navy reportedly had no

[6:18] trained divers available.

[6:21] >> Our rescue vehicle had been trying to

[6:23] dock with the hatch. He explains the

[6:25] serious cracks stopped it from

[6:26] attaching,

[6:28] but the Norwegians don't agree.

[6:30] >> Our divers have been down there today

[6:33] and they have confirmed that the uh rear

[6:37] outer hatch has not been damaged uh

[6:41] during this incident. and they

[6:43] apparently don't agree on what should

[6:44] happen next. The Russians say a crane

[6:47] from a surface ship should be used to

[6:48] rip the hatch open. The Norwegians still

[6:51] want to try docking a specially designed

[6:53] rescue craft. The victim's relatives

[6:56] still have little faith in how Russian

[6:57] officials are handling the situation.

[7:00] Ena Kurakoba's 29-year-old husband was

[7:02] an officer aboard the submarine. Today,

[7:05] she and their young daughter arrived at

[7:07] a Navy port to be closer to him.

[7:11] I'm still holding out hope my husband

[7:13] will come back alive. She says if the

[7:15] government had asked for help the first

[7:16] day they would all have been saved.

[7:20] >> Today, Russia's president, criticized

[7:22] for doing nothing, made his most

[7:23] impassion remarks yet about the

[7:25] disaster, saying he has pain in his

[7:27] heart and tears in his eyes. But as the

[7:30] divers work through the dark, frigid

[7:32] waters, they have virtually no hope of

[7:34] finding anyone alive. And tonight, some

[7:37] Russian officials are saying the focus

[7:39] of the operation is shifting away from

[7:41] rescue to an investigation of what

[7:44] caused one of their most powerful

[7:45] submarines to crash to the bottom of the

[7:47] sea. Ron Allen, NBC News, Mormans,

[7:51] Russia.

[7:52] This is Dana Lewis in Moscow. On the

[7:55] surface, Russia's military seems strong.

[7:57] The cursed a quarter of a billion dollar

[7:59] nuclear submarine. But below the

[8:02] surface, the stricken submarine is

[8:03] symptom of a sick and dangerous military

[8:06] machine.

[8:07] >> The situation is hopeless. Uh under

[8:10] present financial levels, the navy

[8:13] cannot operate.

[8:15] >> Russia had to call in outside rescue

[8:16] help because their navy indeed their

[8:19] entire military is practically bankrupt.

[8:21] Size Russia has roughly the same numbers

[8:24] of war plananes and tanks as the United

[8:26] States. Its standing army of 1.2 2

[8:29] million dwarfs the number of US ground

[8:31] troops. But the US spends 270 billion on

[8:35] its forces. Russia 5 billion.

[8:38] >> For 10 years, the Russian military

[8:40] stubbornly persisted in trying to keep a

[8:43] very heavy big army. And now they're in

[8:46] a fix. They don't have the money.

[8:49] >> In Keshna, Russian troops had to fire

[8:51] World War II shells at the enemy. 85% of

[8:54] the army's stockpiles used up and no

[8:56] money to replace them. soldiers went

[8:58] hungry. At least 70% of the defense

[9:01] budget goes to its nuclear forces.

[9:03] Instead of paying to dismantle as many

[9:05] as 185 nuclear subs dangerously rusting

[9:08] doside, it maintains 6,000 warheads.

[9:12] It's all about superpower status.

[9:14] >> To the point where they no longer have

[9:15] strategic parody with the United States

[9:17] means that they no longer really have a

[9:19] right at the top tables in international

[9:21] diplomacy. An internal debate over

[9:23] funding has erupted in an embarrassing

[9:25] dispute between Russia's defense

[9:27] minister, who supports nuclear funding,

[9:29] and the country's top general. Now, the

[9:31] Kremlin has weighed in. In a purge,

[9:34] President Putin fired six generals, then

[9:37] convened a special security council

[9:39] meeting to talk military reform. "The

[9:41] current structure of the armed forces is

[9:43] hardly optimal," he says, adding, "How

[9:45] can it be if pilots can't fly? Sailors

[9:48] almost never put out to sea." And some

[9:51] of those who went to sea haven't

[9:53] returned home. The Kursk, a tragic

[9:55] symbol of all that's gone wrong in the

[9:57] Russian military. Dana Lewis, NBC News,

[9:59] Moscow.

[10:01] >> More news in just a moment.

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[10:49] >> I see lots of people with allergies, but

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[12:00] August 31st. Don't miss it. See your

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[12:04] >> Day on Tuesday as one of America's

[12:06] richest bachelors vanishes in a plane

[12:08] crash. Then his secret sex life is

[12:11] discovered and the feud over his fortune

[12:13] begins.

[12:14] >> Larice, the father of my baby.

[12:16] >> Children born to different teenage

[12:17] mothers fight for his money. But what

[12:19] will the courts decide? The battle of

[12:21] the billionaire's will. Dine Tuesday

[12:23] 10:9 central.

[12:26] In the northwest United States, the

[12:28] wildfires burn on in Montana's

[12:30] Bitterroot National Forest. More than a

[12:33] quarter million acres are overrun by

[12:35] flames, some of them 200 f feet high.

[12:38] Overall in the American West tonight, 91

[12:41] major fires.

[12:43] From Phoenix tonight, where former

[12:44] presidential candidate John McCain is

[12:47] recovering from cancer surgery, more

[12:49] good news. Aids say he's doing well,

[12:51] likely to be discharged in a day or two.

[12:54] Doctors believe they caught the skin

[12:56] cancer before it spread. That's Nightly

[12:58] News. Thanks for watching and good

[13:00] night.

[13:05] >> NBC News, America's news leader.

[13:09] >> I've got the world on a string, sitting

[13:13] on a rainbow.

[13:15] Got the string around my finger.

[14:24] Just 26 days until the Olympics from

[14:27] Australia on America's Olympic network,

[14:30] NBC.

[14:35] We're live in Boston where just moments

[14:37] ago the amazing career of Shannon Miller

[14:40] hit the crossroad. Her very first vault

[14:43] as she came here to Boston to compete in

[14:45] the Olympic trials. She did so.

[14:51] >> The house where they had been visiting

[14:53] him was deserted when police searched it

[14:55] last Wednesday. The children's mother,

[14:57] Joanna Stevenson, who had sole legal

[15:00] custody of the children,