World News Tonight (ABC) - 1999-02-19 - 1 of 2

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[0:00] into late tomorrow night and Sunday and

[0:02] then perhaps Monday, Tuesday, and

[0:04] Wednesday, we're going to see a little

[0:05] bit of rain. Not the heavy stuff, just a

[0:07] little. I'm Jim Bosley.

[0:15] >> On World News Tonight this Friday, US

[0:18] forces are poised to attack in Europe in

[0:21] Kosovo. A deadline for peace fast

[0:23] approaches. I have ordered our aircraft

[0:26] to be ready to act as part of a NATO

[0:29] operation.

[0:30] >> Sweeping new rules to prevent work

[0:32] injuries affecting everything from the

[0:34] assembly line to the cubicle. What's

[0:37] killing elephants in America? It's a

[0:39] disease you've definitely heard of. And

[0:42] when war lost its luster forever,

[0:45] buried in the trenches, the century on

[0:48] Friday.

[0:55] From ABC News World Headquarters in New

[0:58] York, this is World News Tonight with

[1:02] Peter Jennings. Sitting in tonight,

[1:05] Charles Gibson.

[1:06] >> Good evening. The United States and its

[1:08] NATO allies are about to get involved in

[1:10] a very old conflict in Europe. The Serbs

[1:13] and their enemies, the ethnic Albanians,

[1:15] in the latest round of this conflict,

[1:17] have been fighting in Kosovo for almost

[1:19] a year. There is a deadline by 6:00 a.m.

[1:23] Eastern time tomorrow, noon in Kosovo.

[1:26] The Serbian leader, Sloban Mallich, must

[1:28] agree to loosen his grip over Kosovo and

[1:31] allow NATO troops to enforce the deal or

[1:33] else face NATO air strikes soon.

[1:36] President Clinton said this afternoon

[1:38] the deadline will not be extended. Our

[1:41] first report is from ABC's Mike Lee, who

[1:43] is in Kosovo tonight. American,

[1:47] British, and Canadian diplomats began

[1:49] leaving Serbia today. The first tangible

[1:51] sign that Western governments are

[1:53] bracing for possible NATO air strikes.

[1:55] If there is a war here, said the

[1:57] Canadian ambassador, God knows what will

[1:59] happen. Today, the Serbian leader,

[2:01] Sloban Mallovich, snubbed American

[2:03] officials, refused to even meet with

[2:05] them. "We will not give away Kosovo," he

[2:08] said, not even at the price of bombing.

[2:11] Unless Mallovich changes his mind, NATO

[2:13] strikes could come within the next few

[2:15] days. They would include Tomahawk cruise

[2:17] missiles and 300 strike aircraft. The

[2:20] first targets, Serb air defense systems,

[2:23] communications, command and control

[2:25] centers. US officials say the Serbs are

[2:27] no pushover. They have sophisticated

[2:30] anti-aircraft weapons and know how to

[2:32] use them. Other targets include military

[2:34] barracks, which supply Serb troops that

[2:36] have rampaged through ethnic Albanian

[2:38] villages. If on the other hand, a peace

[2:41] agreement is reached, a small NATO force

[2:44] will cross into Serbia within hours to

[2:46] seize control of Kosovo's main airport.

[2:48] A force of nearly 30,000 NATO soldiers

[2:51] would follow. So once again, Sloban

[2:53] Mallovich is taking the West right up to

[2:56] the brink of war. There's one question

[2:58] on everyone's mind here tonight, and

[3:00] only he knows the answer. Will he back

[3:02] down? Mik Lee, ABC News, Kosovo. So

[3:07] there are just a few more hours left to

[3:09] strike a deal. What would it be?

[3:13] Well, if there is a deal, Kosovo, which

[3:15] is dominated by ethnic Albanians, would

[3:18] gain autonomy from Serbia within the

[3:20] next 3 years. It would have its own

[3:23] constitution and legislature. The Kosovo

[3:26] army, in return, would agree to lay down

[3:28] its weapons. As for the Serbs,

[3:31] international sanctions imposed on them

[3:33] would be eased. Serbian leader Milosvich

[3:36] would agree to accept a NATO

[3:37] peacekeeping force of 28,000 troops on

[3:40] the ground in Kosovo. About 4,000

[3:43] Americans as part of the NATO force

[3:45] would monitor eastern Kosovo. The

[3:48] British, French, Italians, and Germans

[3:50] would be responsible for the rest. At

[3:53] the White House today, President Clinton

[3:55] was meeting with the French president,

[3:56] Jacques Shurak. The two of them together

[3:58] could not have been tougher towards

[4:00] Serbia, telling the Serb leader, "Your

[4:02] time is up." ABC's Sam Donaldelsson is

[4:05] at the White House.

[4:07] >> Presidents Clinton and Shurock came to a

[4:09] White House news conference today

[4:10] clearly determined to get across the

[4:12] message that there is no more wiggle

[4:14] room for the Serbs. President Clinton

[4:16] said it's now up to Velocic and the

[4:18] Serbs to join in reaching an agreement

[4:21] or or they can stonewall. But if they do

[4:24] that, they will be held accountable. I

[4:27] have ordered our aircraft to be ready to

[4:30] act as part of a NATO operation. Uh, is

[4:33] there any possibility that NATO would

[4:35] extend Saturday noon deadlines?

[4:37] >> I think it would be a mistake to extend

[4:39] the deadline.

[4:40] >> President Shurock echoed those

[4:42] sentiments. It's the path of wisdom or

[4:44] the path of war, he said. Shortly after

[4:46] the news conference ended, Secretary of

[4:48] State Albbright left for the talks

[4:50] outside Paris. She'll join the

[4:52] conference about 8:00 a.m. Paris time, 4

[4:55] hours before the deadline. The mood here

[4:57] tonight is quite pessimistic. The word

[4:59] is the Serbs aren't even close to

[5:01] agreeing on fundamental points,

[5:02] particularly NATO's insistence on a

[5:04] peacekeeping force. So, it's fair to

[5:06] say, Charlie, that this time it looks

[5:08] like the deadline will hold and the

[5:10] bombs may well begin to fall. All right.

[5:13] Thanks very much, Sam. Two other issues

[5:14] I want to ask you about. Number one,

[5:16] this was the first time that the

[5:18] president has met with the press since

[5:20] the Senate acquitted him a week ago. Did

[5:22] he say anything about it? Well, he was

[5:24] asked what he's learned over the months

[5:25] of this scandal and whether he thinks

[5:27] the scandal has harmed the presidency.

[5:29] Here is some of his reply.

[5:32] >> Of course, I've learned a lot of

[5:33] personal lessons, most of of which I

[5:35] have already discussed

[5:38] and uh presidents are people too. I hope

[5:43] the the presidency has not been harmed.

[5:45] I don't believe it has been. Uh I don't

[5:48] think I can't say that I think this has

[5:50] been good for the country,

[5:52] but u we will see. I expect to have two

[5:55] good years here.

[5:56] >> Of course, a lot of other questions to

[5:58] ask. What about Judge Wright's threat to

[6:00] hold the president in contempt of court?

[6:01] What about the threats that are swirling

[6:03] around this town that Mr. Clinton

[6:05] intends to take revenge on House

[6:06] Republicans at Kenstar? But all those

[6:09] questions, Charlie, are going to have to

[6:10] wait for the president's first general

[6:12] news conference, which his press

[6:13] secretary says may take place sometime

[6:16] in March. And number two, quickly, we

[6:18] know that uh retiring Senator Moyahan

[6:21] from New York met at the White House

[6:23] today with Mrs. Clinton. We saw him

[6:25] leaving, but he didn't say anything.

[6:27] Mrs. Clinton didn't say anything. Did

[6:28] the president say anything?

[6:29] >> Well, yes. The president says he knows

[6:31] that Mrs. Clinton will make up her mind.

[6:33] He wants her to talk to a lot of people

[6:34] like Senator Moahan. He wants her to get

[6:36] a lot of rest, he said, because it's

[6:38] been a tough year. And then she'll make

[6:39] a decision and he'll back whatever she

[6:41] does. Charlie, I think everybody

[6:42] understands Mrs. Clinton will make this

[6:45] decision. She'll tell him and the rest

[6:47] of us and then we'll know.

[6:49] >> All right, ABC's Sam Donaldson at the

[6:51] White House. Sam, thanks very much. In

[6:53] Washington today, the government agency

[6:55] that watches over job safety proposed

[6:57] the first ever standards for the way the

[6:59] workplace should be adapted to fit the

[7:02] worker. More than onethird of injuries

[7:04] at work come from repetitive motion such

[7:06] as lifting, stretching, even typing.

[7:08] ABC's Jack Smith has the details.

[7:14] They are the injuries from physical

[7:16] stress, awkward posture, and poorly

[7:18] designed equipment when machines and

[7:20] humans don't match. According to the

[7:23] government, 647,000

[7:25] injuries a year. Today's draft rules

[7:28] would make US companies change the

[7:30] workplace to prevent them.

[7:31] >> Estimate is that there's $60 billion

[7:33] being spent in this economy because of

[7:35] these type of injuries. And if this rule

[7:37] could prevent just a small piece of

[7:38] that, we would have made major gains.

[7:40] Technology can help. At Ford Motors, for

[7:43] instance, new assembly lines are

[7:44] designed using virtual workers to make

[7:47] sure real workers can safely do the job.

[7:50] But most US companies are dead set

[7:52] against the new rules. One reason they

[7:54] believe reports of stress injuries are

[7:56] greatly exaggerated. Certainly is going

[7:58] to add considerably to their cost of

[8:00] doing business if they have to have a

[8:01] regulation for just one reported injury

[8:04] when the science is still out on the

[8:06] question. It's shaping up as a classic

[8:08] fight between business and its

[8:10] Republican allies on the one side and

[8:12] regulators and their Democratic allies

[8:14] on the other. And no one expects

[8:15] agreement on the draft rules so they can

[8:17] go into effect anytime soon. Jack Smith,

[8:20] ABC News, Washington.

[8:23] One other note tonight, a Coast Guard

[8:25] team hopes to finally start pumping oil

[8:28] from that grounded ship off the coast of

[8:30] Oregon. You may recall the new Carissa

[8:32] was pushed onshore a couple of weeks

[8:34] ago. A plan to burn off its bunker oil

[8:36] didn't work. When we come back, a series

[8:39] of hate crimes in what you'd think would

[8:41] be the most tolerant of communities. And

[8:44] a key economic number, where the US is

[8:47] getting clobbered.

[8:51] >> This is World News Tonight with Peter

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[9:34] But sometimes it just doesn't love me

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[9:59] >> There is a new breed of business person

[10:02] who has decided to go it alone.

[10:08] You, the entrepreneur who shed the

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[10:13] your own business.

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[10:29] >> Does your older dog seem confused,

[10:32] doesn't recognize you,

[10:34] or turns away when you pet him? It could

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[10:47] >> we're home. Ask your veterinarian if

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[10:54] changes. Consult your veterinarian

[10:55] before using with other medications or

[10:57] tick collars.

[11:00] In various parts of the world today,

[11:02] there were more Kurdish protests against

[11:04] the arrest of Kurd guerilla leader

[11:06] Abdullah Ojalan. In Romania, Kurds

[11:09] fought with riot police who prevented

[11:11] them from marching to the Greek embassy

[11:13] and there were injuries on both sides.

[11:15] In a Jasper, Texas courthouse today, the

[11:18] trial of John William King focused on

[11:20] DNA evidence. King is one of three white

[11:23] men accused in the dragging death last

[11:26] year of James Bird, a black man. Today,

[11:28] an FBI expert said blood stains on

[11:31] clothing in King's apartment matched

[11:33] Bird. And investigators said other DNA

[11:36] evidence found at the scene points to a

[11:38] fourth person they have not yet been

[11:40] able to identify. In California tonight,

[11:44] another community is struggling to

[11:46] understand a vicious hate crime. Marin

[11:48] County near San Francisco was the scene

[11:50] of an attack on a high school senior.

[11:52] Here's ABC's Jane Clayson. The

[11:55] >> 17-year-old Adam Coloulton is a high

[11:57] school senior last year after he openly

[11:59] declared he was gay. He was brutally

[12:02] attacked and left for dead in a grocery

[12:04] store parking lot. He spoke about it

[12:06] later. And you can't, you know, hate

[12:08] those people that are ignorant just

[12:10] because they don't understand.

[12:12] >> But last week, it happened again. Colton

[12:14] was beaten unconscious. The letters F A

[12:18] etched into his stomach and his arms.

[12:20] Quiet Marin County, which prides itself

[12:23] on its liberal live and let live

[12:25] tolerance, is in shock. Marin is

[12:27] supposed to be very progressive and

[12:29] holistic and has lots of tolerance for

[12:31] all kinds of groups and it's kind of

[12:33] unusual to have it but but there have

[12:36] been problems before. Last year some

[12:38] students at San Marin High wore face

[12:40] paint, afro wigs, and chanted racial

[12:42] slurs during a school basketball game.

[12:44] Parents called it uncontrolled racism

[12:46] and this week filed suit against the

[12:48] district. The attack on Adam Poulton has

[12:51] provoked even more outrage at community

[12:53] rallies and high school forums. So as

[12:56] long as we are unhappy with the things

[12:58] with the way things are, we have a