NBC Nightly News open - 1979-08-27

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Nashville.

[0:02] >> This is NBC Nightly News

[0:06] with John Chancellor who's on vacation

[0:08] and David Brinkley in New York.

[0:11] Good evening. Ludma Vasovva, the Russian

[0:14] ballerina is on her way back to Moscow,

[0:17] leaving her husband behind in New York.

[0:20] This afternoon, American officials

[0:22] finally talked to her. Said they were

[0:24] satisfied it was her own idea to return

[0:26] to Moscow. Then they said the Russian

[0:29] airliner could take off. It rolled out

[0:31] to the runway at 6:00 East uh New York

[0:34] time. Its takeoff then was delayed by

[0:36] bad weather. Since Friday, it has been

[0:39] held on the ground because the US

[0:41] government insisted on talking to her.

[0:43] The Russians resisted until today. While

[0:46] negotiations went on between the White

[0:48] House, the State Department, and the

[0:49] Kremlin. Here's Diane Wildman at New

[0:52] York's Kennedy Airport.

[0:55] As it had for three days and nights, the

[0:57] Soviet Aeroflot jetliner set parked

[1:00] today at gate 10 with more than 50

[1:02] passengers aboard, including Ludmila

[1:04] Vloa.

[1:06] Vloa's husband, Bojoy star Alexander

[1:08] Goodnov, defected to the United States

[1:10] last week. The Russians have said all

[1:12] along Vloa wanted to go home, that she

[1:15] was afraid she'd be detained if she got

[1:17] off the plane to talk to American

[1:18] officials. Finally, about 3:00 this

[1:21] afternoon, a compromise was reached. The

[1:24] plan called for Russian and American

[1:25] negotiators, including Deputy Ambassador

[1:28] Donald Mckenry, to meet with Velasova in

[1:30] a mobile lounge, which was pulled up to

[1:32] the side of the plane. There they spoke

[1:34] to the ballerina for 15 minutes. When

[1:37] Mckenry emerged, he announced Ludmila

[1:40] Vloa was going home. We have just had an

[1:43] opportunity to speak uh with Miss

[1:47] >> Vassa.

[1:50] The she and the passengers on board the

[1:53] plane

[1:55] uh are preparing to leave and to return

[1:58] to the Soviet Union.

[2:01] We are satisfied that the principle

[2:06] uh involved in this

[2:09] incident has been upheld

[2:12] and that is that she is leaving

[2:18] on the basis of her own expression

[2:24] which we conclude is freely expressed uh

[2:27] that she wishes to return at this time

[2:31] to the Soviet Union.

[2:33] >> Mckenry said Bloss told him through a

[2:35] translator that she had not heard from

[2:36] her husband since his defection.

[2:39] >> The compromise, which finally ended this

[2:41] international confrontation, was one the

[2:43] Americans said they had suggested 3 days

[2:46] ago, but which the Soviets had not

[2:48] agreed to until today. Dian Wildman, NBC

[2:52] News, New York. Over the weekend, while

[2:55] the plane sat on the ground, not allowed

[2:57] to take off, there were heavy strains

[2:59] and protests between Washington and

[3:01] Moscow. One reason for the delay was

[3:04] that all this started late on a Friday

[3:06] afternoon when so many officials were on

[3:09] vacation or away for the weekend and

[3:11] unavailable. Reports from Washington and

[3:14] Moscow.

[3:15] Acting Secretary of State Warren

[3:17] Christopher said that Soviet authorities

[3:18] tried to get Miss Vasova out of the

[3:20] country without letting her be

[3:21] interviewed, even though they had

[3:23] acknowledged the right of the United

[3:24] States to interview her and even though

[3:26] they knew that the State Department was

[3:27] sending two officials to New York to

[3:29] talk to the Soviet ballerina.

[3:31] Christopher said that when he learned

[3:33] that Miss Blasova had been rushed aboard

[3:34] a Soviet plane by a number of young

[3:36] Soviet men, he ordered the plane's

[3:38] departure held up and then negotiations

[3:41] began about where the interview should

[3:42] take place. Christopher said that at

[3:44] 7:35 this morning, he got a phone call

[3:47] from the Russians saying that they had

[3:48] finally agreed to the American position.

[3:51] He said that he regarded the outcome as

[3:53] a victory for nonforced repatriation.

[3:56] >> It was resolved on the basis that we had

[3:59] suggested almost from the beginning and

[4:01] that is that Mrs. Vaslova be uh

[4:05] interviewed in a circumstance where

[4:08] there would be an assurance that she

[4:09] could express her free will.

[4:12] Christopher also said that the presence

[4:14] of Soviet officials during the