NBC Nightly News - 1982-06-25

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Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] Secretary of State Alexander Haig

[0:04] reading from a letter he sent President

[0:06] Reagan today.

[0:07] In recent months,

[0:10] it has become clear to me

[0:13] that the foreign policy on which we

[0:15] embarked together

[0:18] was shifting

[0:20] from that careful course

[0:22] which we laid out.

[0:26] Under these circumstances,

[0:28] I feel it necessary

[0:32] that you accept my resignation.

[0:39] >> [music]

[0:40] >> This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw

[0:43] in New York, Roger Mudd [music] in

[0:45] Washington, and commentary by John

[0:47] Chancellor.

[0:50] Good evening. The vicar of American

[0:52] foreign policy, Alexander Haig, resigned

[0:54] today as Secretary of State. President

[0:56] Reagan said he would appoint as Haig's

[0:58] replacement former Nixon Treasury

[0:59] Secretary George Shultz, who had been

[1:02] Mr. Reagan's first choice during the

[1:03] transition. This was the

[1:05] administration's first major defection,

[1:07] and it caught Washington totally

[1:08] unaware. The president refused to answer

[1:10] questions about it, and then left town

[1:13] for the weekend at Camp David. Haig

[1:14] himself was circumspect. Here are two

[1:16] reports beginning with Judy Woodruff.

[1:20] With little more than 15 minutes notice,

[1:22] the president came to the White House

[1:24] briefing room to make the surprise

[1:26] announcement. Regarding

[1:29] a member of our administration who who

[1:31] has served me so well and faithfully,

[1:33] whose

[1:35] wisdom and counsel I have respected and

[1:37] admired for a

[1:40] all the time that our administration has

[1:42] been here. And with great regret, I have

[1:44] accepted the resignation of Secretary of

[1:46] State Al Haig. The president looked pale

[1:50] and shaken as he took the unusual step

[1:52] of refusing to give any explanation for

[1:54] Haig's departure.

[1:56] Nor did he comment a little later when

[1:58] he left for Camp David. But White House

[2:00] aides say Haig made the resignation

[2:02] offer in person yesterday, followed up

[2:04] by a letter today. For several months,

[2:06] aides have talked of increasing friction

[2:08] between Haig, seen here two days ago,

[2:11] and the president's national security

[2:13] assistant, William Clark. In addition to

[2:15] Haig's already known differences with

[2:17] Secretary of Defense Weinberger. Haig

[2:19] was away in New York a week ago meeting

[2:21] with the Soviet foreign minister when

[2:23] Clark scheduled a meeting at the White

[2:25] House, which led to a presidential

[2:27] decision to make it more difficult for

[2:29] US allies to do business with the

[2:31] Soviets. It was a move that Haig had

[2:33] argued strenuously against, but it is

[2:35] said to be only one of a series of

[2:37] developments that contributed to his

[2:39] alienation from other presidential aides

[2:42] and from the president himself. Now that

[2:44] Haig is gone, there is very little

[2:46] unhappiness here at the White House,

[2:48] where Haig's prickly personality and

[2:50] what some aides called emotional

[2:52] instability had won him very few allies.

[2:56] Judy Woodruff, NBC News, the White

[2:57] House.

[2:59] When Secretary Haig walked into the

[3:01] department's largest auditorium, the

[3:03] staffers there gave him a standing

[3:04] ovation.

[3:05] His resignation letter to the president

[3:07] did not shed much light on the reasons

[3:09] behind his decision. We agreed that

[3:11] consistency,

[3:14] clarity,

[3:17] and steadiness of purpose

[3:20] were essential to success.

[3:23] It was in this spirit

[3:25] that I undertook to serve you

[3:28] as Secretary of State.

[3:33] In recent months,

[3:35] it has become clear to me

[3:38] that the foreign policy on which we

[3:40] embarked together

[3:43] was shifting

[3:45] from that careful course

[3:48] which we laid out. Those words

[3:50] apparently suggest that Haig thought he

[3:52] was being overruled too often on

[3:54] decisions which affected the making and

[3:55] conduct of US policy abroad.

[3:58] It is known that Haig does not share the

[4:00] president's opposition to building a

[4:01] natural gas pipeline from the Soviet

[4:03] Union into Western Europe. That may have

[4:05] been a factor. Others point to his

[4:07] disagreements with ranking members of

[4:09] the administration, sometimes public

[4:10] disagreements. But whatever the specific

[4:13] cause of the resignation was, the

[4:14] secretary kept it to himself today.

[4:17] Steve Delaney, NBC News at the State

[4:19] Department.

[4:20] On Capitol Hill, most Republicans spoke

[4:22] quietly, not wanting to add to the

[4:24] administration's embarrassment about

[4:26] losing its most prominent cabinet

[4:27] secretary. They also were quick to say

[4:29] nice things about the incoming

[4:31] secretary, George Shultz. Huh?

[4:34] Haig's successor, Shultz, was in London

[4:36] when the news broke in Washington. And

[4:37] returning from dinner tonight, Shultz

[4:40] spoke briefly with NBC News.

[4:41] >> Are you going to have anything to say

[4:42] here tomorrow? No, I'm not. Nothing in

[4:45] Washington?

[4:46] I don't think so. I think this is my

[4:49] moment for silence. Thank you.

[4:50] >> Can Can you at least tell us when when

[4:52] you first were approached?

[4:55] I think that all can come from the White

[4:57] House. This is all It's very sudden for

[4:59] me. I was

[5:00] talked to today, but I'm I'll just be

[5:02] quiet now. Thank you.

[5:05] Although today's news was unexpected,

[5:07] the choice of Shultz for Secretary of

[5:08] State is not surprising. He's been

[5:10] mentioned for this job before. Indeed,

[5:12] Shultz is so highly regarded that his

[5:14] name comes up whenever a top job opens

[5:16] in a Republican administration. Irving

[5:18] R. Levine has covered Shultz for a

[5:20] number of years. He has prepared this

[5:22] profile.

[5:23] Shultz, an economist, came to the Nixon

[5:25] administration from the University of

[5:27] Chicago and served at the Labor

[5:29] Department as Labor Secretary, then as

[5:32] Budget Director, finally as Treasury

[5:34] Secretary. After 5 years, longer than

[5:37] any other Nixon cabinet member, Shultz

[5:39] left just before the Nixon resignation

[5:41] to become president of the Bechtel

[5:43] Construction Company, using his contacts

[5:46] around the world to get jobs for the

[5:48] company, including in Saudi Arabia and

[5:51] other Arab countries. During the Reagan

[5:53] campaign, Shultz was a frequent advisor,

[5:55] and he was widely thought to be in line

[5:57] for Secretary of State. Shultz

[5:59] apparently turned down the post and

[6:01] became chairman of a part-time Board of

[6:04] Economic Advisors to the president. A

[6:06] hint of a bigger role came when Shultz

[6:08] was sent to Europe to scout the views of

[6:11] the leaders President Reagan would be

[6:12] meeting with at the Versailles Economic

[6:14] Summit. Those who have worked with and

[6:17] covered Shultz find sharp contrast with

[6:19] Alexander Haig.

[6:21] Shultz has a knack for getting along

[6:24] even with natural adversaries. As a

[6:26] Republican Labor Secretary, he often

[6:28] played golf with the late AFL-CIO

[6:31] President George Meany. Shultz is direct

[6:34] in his speech and in his dealings with

[6:36] people. And finally, Shultz avoids

[6:38] publicity and the limelight. Irving R.

[6:41] Levine, NBC News, Washington.

[6:45] Our diplomatic correspondent, Marvin

[6:46] Kalb, is with me now to discuss what

[6:48] this means for the direction of American

[6:49] foreign policy and what brought it

[6:51] about. Marvin, we're all hearing a great

[6:53] deal about the clash of personalities in

[6:55] the administration. Do you think that

[6:56] was a major factor? Tom, that probably

[6:57] was a major factor, and it blends in

[6:59] with There have been a lot of stories

[7:01] about growing friction between Haig and

[7:03] National Security Advisor Clark. And

[7:06] Haig told a visitor to his office

[7:07] yesterday that he felt increasingly

[7:10] cornered by a troika consisting of Vice

[7:12] President Bush, Chief of Staff James

[7:14] Baker, and Clark. He felt very strongly

[7:17] that Clark should not have met with the

[7:21] Saudi Arabian ambassador just this past

[7:23] week because Haig felt this was sending

[7:25] mixed signals about American policy to

[7:27] the Middle East. He felt this was

[7:29] behind-his-back maneuvering. He resented

[7:31] it. He told the president, but he didn't

[7:32] win. Big change in American foreign

[7:34] policy now?

[7:35] I don't know if it'll be a big change,

[7:36] but certainly in the Middle East, one

[7:37] could expect some kind of significant

[7:39] change. Haig was probably in this

[7:41] administration odd man out in terms of

[7:43] his sympathy for Israel's concerns. The

[7:46] new Secretary of State is a man who, as

[7:48] we just heard, has had a great deal of

[7:50] business in the Arab world, but there's

[7:51] no evidence exactly what Shultz's point

[7:54] of view is, but the Israelis are

[7:55] probably the most unhappy people

[7:57] tonight. Thank you, Marvin Kalb. We'll

[7:59] have more about the way on Secretary

[8:00] Haig's resignation later in this

[8:02] program. And tonight, NBC News will have

[8:04] a special report at 11:30, 10:30 Central

[8:07] Time.

[8:14] >> [music]

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[9:20] At the request of the Reagan

[9:21] administration, Israel announced a

[9:23] cease-fire for Lebanon this afternoon,

[9:24] but no one is sure whether it is working

[9:27] or how long it will last. The cease-fire

[9:29] came after Israeli Defense Minister

[9:31] Sharon told his forces the PLO was

[9:33] nearly destroyed and that Syria had lost

[9:36] its grip on Lebanon. Steve Mallory,

[9:38] who's been reporting on the receiving

[9:39] end of the Beirut bombing and shelling,

[9:41] is with us again tonight.

[9:51] The sound is terrifying.

[9:56] Get out!

[9:58] Get out!

[10:08] >> Israeli gunboats pound residential areas

[10:10] in central Beirut.

[10:18] No military positions here.

[10:22] The frightened run from the area or hide

[10:24] in basement car parks for hours.

[10:28] One is an American businessman. They're

[10:30] hitting all these residential buildings.

[10:32] Why? They're not hitting out here where

[10:33] the Syrians are.

[10:35] They're hitting these residential

[10:36] buildings. Why? They're They're much

[10:38] better shots than that.

[10:42] The gunboats shell throughout the night

[10:43] and day. The Israeli warplanes shower

[10:46] bombs on Palestinian and Lebanese Muslim

[10:49] areas.

[10:50] The leader of the Muslim Druze community

[10:51] says the Palestinians are finished. But

[10:54] an honorable solution can't be worked

[10:56] out because the Israelis keep

[10:58] bombarding, not giving anyone time to

[11:00] talk. I have doubts that we would be

[11:03] able to achieve this honorable surrender

[11:06] because of the Israeli policy

[11:10] that is going to lead us to general

[11:12] massacre of Beirut including Lebanese

[11:15] and Palestinians.

[11:18] The Israeli bombing never seems to stop.

[11:20] The same for the casualty toll.

[11:23] At the Barbara Hospital on the

[11:24] predominantly Muslim side of the city.

[11:26] Dr. Amal Shamma, a United States

[11:28] citizen.

[11:29] >> I have an American passport and I'm a

[11:31] proud of it.

[11:32] Most of the Lebanese believe the

[11:33] fighting will continue. Many blame the

[11:36] United States.

[11:38] Without some honorable solution to the

[11:40] crisis, the Palestinians will continue

[11:42] to fight. First of all, nobody can

[11:46] squeeze me

[11:49] to surrender.

[11:50] And I don't like to to to repeat this

[11:53] word.

[11:54] I am here to fight and to win. The

[11:57] Israeli warplanes devastated this

[11:59] Lebanese Muslim area of Beirut. People

[12:02] pick through what used to be their home

[12:04] and leave taking what they can.

[12:08] Israeli fighter bombers are heard

[12:10] overhead and the people are terrified.

[12:13] Scenes like these have been repeated

[12:15] over and over again for weeks.

[12:17] No one knows what is or isn't a target.

[12:20] The people keep running, moving,

[12:23] searching for another place to hide, to

[12:25] survive.

[12:27] Steve Mallory, NBC News, Beirut.

[12:31] The fighting today also continued to the

[12:33] east of Beirut along the Syrian front.

[12:35] The Israelis severed the crucial

[12:36] Beirut-Damascus Highway. Jack Reynolds

[12:39] reports.

[12:42] There have been several ceasefires

[12:44] between the Israelis and the Syrians.

[12:49] None have held. The Israelis have taken

[12:52] every opportunity to push the Syrians

[12:54] back with artillery and air strikes. The

[12:57] major fighting has been along a key road

[12:59] link leading into Beirut.

[13:02] Covered by air and artillery, the

[13:04] Israelis moved their armor and troops

[13:06] into position.

[13:09] This is the main Damascus-Beirut

[13:11] Highway. On our way up here, one Israeli

[13:13] officer said, "We don't waste men on

[13:15] targets like this. We have other ways to

[13:18] do it."

[13:21] This is the way they proceeded to do it.

[13:24] Massive artillery bombardment.

[13:27] A Syrian tank was hit.

[13:31] Its ammunition continued to explode long

[13:34] after the tank was destroyed.

[13:40] The Israelis control the high ground to

[13:42] the right of the highway. The Syrian

[13:44] positions are on the left.

[13:46] There was small arms fire for a while,

[13:49] then silence.

[13:51] When the Israelis felt it was safe, they

[13:52] moved up their tanks and armored

[13:54] personnel carriers. Troops fanned out

[13:57] along the road. Sappers went ahead of

[13:59] the tanks looking for mines.

[14:02] The column advanced towards its next

[14:04] objective, the town of Aley where the

[14:06] Syrians and Palestinians are bottled up.

[14:09] Aley controls the high ground which

[14:11] overlooks the rest of the

[14:12] Beirut-Damascus Highway and more

[14:14] importantly, the strategic Bekaa Valley,

[14:17] the last important Syrian position in

[14:20] Lebanon.

[14:21] Jack Reynolds, NBC News on the

[14:24] Beirut-Damascus Highway.

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[16:05] The Supreme Court today sharply curbed

[16:07] the authority of local school boards to

[16:09] ban books from school libraries. The

[16:11] landmark decision split the court on a

[16:13] five to four vote and Chief Justice

[16:15] Warren Burger speaking for the minority

[16:17] called the ruling a startling erosion of

[16:19] the power of local school boards. Carl

[16:21] Stern reports.

[16:23] At a suburban school district in

[16:25] Levittown, New York, nine books were

[16:27] removed from the school libraries

[16:29] including Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice

[16:31] and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five.

[16:34] The school board using a list it

[16:36] obtained at a conservative political

[16:37] conference described the books as

[16:39] anti-American, anti-Christian,

[16:41] anti-Semitic and just plain filthy.

[16:44] But today, the Supreme Court ruled for

[16:46] the first time that school children have

[16:48] a constitutional right to receive ideas,

[16:51] all ideas.

[16:53] Justices Stevens, Marshall and Brennan

[16:55] said only pervasively vulgar or

[16:57] educationally unsuitable materials could

[16:59] be removed. They were joined by Justices

[17:01] White and Blackmun who had some

[17:03] reservations but went along with the

[17:04] decision.

[17:06] Four dissenting justices warned that if

[17:08] judges can tell school boards what to

[17:09] put in libraries, they'll be ordering

[17:11] them next what to teach in classrooms.

[17:14] A former student who brought the suit

[17:16] was Steven Pico. It's a fantastic

[17:18] decision. It's a anyone that respects

[17:20] the First Amendment and the free flow of

[17:22] ideas is is overjoyed today. But school

[17:25] board members said they were dismayed.

[17:27] This is definitely

[17:29] a defeat today. It's a sad day in this

[17:32] country for local control. The case will

[17:35] now go back to the trial court to

[17:37] determine whether the books were removed

[17:38] for vulgarity, which is an acceptable

[17:41] reason, or for the views they contain,

[17:43] which the Supreme Court said is not an

[17:45] acceptable reason.

[17:47] Carl Stern, NBC News, Washington.

[17:50] Lost in the frenzy of the Haig

[17:51] resignation today was the fact that the

[17:53] president vetoed for the second day in a

[17:55] row a supplemental appropriations bill.

[17:57] The bill was still $1 billion more than

[17:59] the president wanted. On Monday, the

[18:01] Senate will try again with a third

[18:03] version.

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[19:40] The city of brotherly love was the scene

[19:42] of sibling rivalry today as the

[19:44] Democratic presidential hopefuls

[19:46] gathered in Philadelphia for their

[19:47] mini-convention. Ken Bodey reports.

[19:52] Most of the unofficial activity at this

[19:54] conference centers around the potential

[19:56] presidential candidates.

[20:00] They spend their days and nights getting

[20:02] around Philadelphia in the most visible

[20:04] possible ways. Walter Mondale has more

[20:07] than 100 staff members here to help him

[20:09] meet the right delegates. Kennedy says

[20:12] more than 200 of these delegates were

[20:14] for him in 1980. Others like Ruben Askew

[20:17] start behind, but these are considered

[20:19] to be influential Democrats and it's

[20:21] worth getting their names for 1984. It

[20:24] doesn't matter

[20:25] if Ronald Reagan is the greatest

[20:27] communicator in history.

[20:30] If all he has to communicate is division

[20:34] and despair and depression. The main

[20:37] order of business here is Ronald Reagan.

[20:39] If this administration actually believes

[20:41] that throwing people out of work is part

[20:43] of the cure, then we'll be happy to give

[20:45] them a dose of their own medicine in

[20:47] 1984.

[20:48] >> Most emotional moment of the opening day

[20:50] came when the party's vice chair, Lynn

[20:52] Cutler, spoke about the ERA. We will

[20:55] make the dream a reality.

[20:58] >> [cheering]

[21:02] >> This is what they call an official

[21:05] spontaneous demonstration.

[21:07] >> [music]

[21:07] >> ERA symbolized the theme of the

[21:09] conference with fairness for all.

[21:13] Ken Bodey, NBC News, Philadelphia.

[21:17] NASA scientists say a huge cloud from a

[21:19] Mexican volcano will bring an early and

[21:22] colder winter to the northern

[21:23] hemisphere. The cloud formed when El

[21:25] Chichonal volcano erupted in early

[21:28] April. Scientists say it is now reducing

[21:30] the amount of sunlight reaching the

[21:32] Earth by 5 to 10%.

[21:34] And passengers aboard a British Airways

[21:36] 747 flying over Java to Australia had a

[21:39] terrible scare as a result of a volcano.

[21:42] As the airliner flew through a thick

[21:44] cloud of ashes from an erupting volcano,

[21:47] all the engines went dead and the plane

[21:49] fell from 25,000 to 11,000 ft for 12

[21:54] minutes before the pilot could get the

[21:55] engines restarted. Many of the

[21:57] passengers said later they were certain

[21:59] they were going to die. During the

[22:01] crisis, the pilot, with typical British

[22:03] reserve, the pilot announced, "We are in

[22:07] a spot of bother."

[22:15] Honey?

[22:15] >> [music]

[22:16] >> Mhm. I've been thinking.

[22:17] >> Uh-oh. Come on. I've got a lot to thank

[22:20] you for. Oh, really?

[22:22] >> [music]

[22:22] >> Really. You helped me stop smoking. You

[22:24] helped me to lose those 20 lb.

[22:26] You helped me cut down on fats,

[22:28] cholesterol. You made it all so easy.

[22:30] [music]

[22:31] For years, Dick and Ann have followed a

[22:32] low-fat, low-cholesterol diet and

[22:34] Fleischmann's margarine [music] has been

[22:35] a part of it. Fleischmann's margarine,

[22:37] 100% corn oil, 0% cholesterol. And

[22:40] you're terrific.

[22:43] >> [music]

[22:45] >> Guess what?

[22:46] I got a job. Congratulations.

[22:48] >> Yeah. I look like the mature beginners.

[22:51] Stop it, Meg. No, the women there seem

[22:53] half my age.

[22:55] >> Let me tell you a secret. Oil of Olay.

[22:57] I've used it for years. Even my Jack

[22:59] noticed a difference.

[23:00] >> What did he say? He said my skin was

[23:02] silky.

[23:03] >> Well, it is.

[23:04] >> Oh, but it wasn't always. You should try

[23:06] Oil of Olay, Meg. It really works. Oh,

[23:09] good, because I start on Monday.

[23:11] >> Good friends share the secret of Oil of

[23:13] Olay.

[23:15] Of all the breakfast cereals on the

[23:17] market today,

[23:18] over 100 of them all together,

[23:21] only a very few are high-nutrition

[23:23] cereals.

[23:24] Buckwheat's is one of them. And among

[23:26] the high-nutrition cereals, only

[23:28] Buckwheat's has a great

[23:31] touch of honey taste. Mhm. Nice touch.

[23:36] So,

[23:37] for high nutrition and great taste, try

[23:39] Buckwheat's, the only high-nutrition

[23:41] cereal with a touch of honey taste.

[23:44] The resignation of Secretary of State

[23:46] Alexander Haig raises a lot of

[23:47] questions, especially in an

[23:49] administration which has been accused of

[23:51] having a formless foreign policy. In his

[23:53] commentary tonight, John Chancellor

[23:55] takes a look at some of these questions.

[23:56] John? The main question about the

[23:58] Secretary's resignation is, was he

[24:00] pushed or did he jump? He has threatened

[24:03] to leave before and it's possible that

[24:05] he threatened again this week and had

[24:06] his bluff called. But it's also hard to

[24:08] believe that Alexander Haig would quit

[24:10] in the middle of a crisis and there are

[24:12] many in government who believe that

[24:13] Israel's attacks on Beirut have created

[24:16] a crisis for the American government. In

[24:18] addition to that, new talks with the

[24:20] Soviets on nuclear arms begin next week.

[24:22] In addition to that, some European

[24:24] allies are saying Mr. Reagan told them

[24:26] one thing in Europe about dealing with

[24:28] Moscow on the gas pipeline and then did

[24:30] something else when he got home.

[24:32] The resignation could not have come at a

[24:34] worse time. The foreign policy of the

[24:36] Reagan administration has not had, in

[24:38] the eyes of its critics, the

[24:39] consistency, clarity, and steadiness of

[24:42] purpose to which Haig referred today.

[24:44] The change at the State Department will

[24:45] take some time to have an effect, good

[24:47] or bad. One thing to remember, the new

[24:50] Secretary of State, George Shultz, is a

[24:52] great friend and former business partner

[24:53] of Defense Secretary Weinberger. There

[24:56] is talk in Washington tonight about a

[24:57] Shultz-Weinberger alliance in foreign

[24:59] policy, which may be much tougher on

[25:01] Israel. And one final point, as Marvin

[25:04] Kalb has pointed out, Haig was never a

[25:06] member of the Reagan inner circle. He

[25:08] was, on the other hand, perceived as

[25:10] moderate in his policies when compared

[25:12] to the conservative ideologues Mr.

[25:14] Reagan has appointed to senior

[25:16] positions. George Shultz is no crazed

[25:18] right-winger, but when he takes over the

[25:20] State Department, the administration

[25:22] will have moved more toward the right.

[25:24] Roger?

[25:25] It is probably not possible to have as

[25:27] many critics and enemies as Alexander

[25:29] Haig had and still survive in Washington

[25:31] for very long. Richard Valeriani

[25:33] recounts the long-running feud Haig has

[25:35] had with the city.

[25:38] From the time he was nominated and went

[25:39] through stormy confirmation hearings

[25:41] over his role as President Nixon's loyal

[25:42] chief of staff during the final days of

[25:44] Watergate, Alexander Haig has been one

[25:46] of the most controversial figures in the

[25:48] Reagan administration.

[25:49] On the day of Reagan's inauguration,

[25:51] Haig gave the new president a blueprint

[25:53] for making foreign policy with most of

[25:54] the authority centered in the State

[25:56] Department. Reagan aides saw Haig's move

[25:58] as a power grab and rejected it.

[26:00] The image of Haig as a man hungry for

[26:02] power was cast indelibly into history on

[26:04] the day Mr. Reagan was shot. As of now,

[26:07] I am in control here in the White House.

[26:10] Haig never really lived that down. But

[26:12] he went through ups and downs in

[26:14] succeeding months, as reflected in

[26:15] newspaper headlines.

[26:17] He complained publicly when Vice

[26:19] President Bush was named the

[26:20] administration's foreign crisis manager

[26:22] in a move designed as a deliberate

[26:24] rebuff to Haig by White House aides.

[26:26] Policy and personality differences

[26:28] sparked feuds between Haig and former

[26:30] National Security Affairs Advisor

[26:31] Richard Allen, Secretary of Defense

[26:33] Caspar Weinberger, UN Ambassador Jeane

[26:36] Kirkpatrick, and more recently, Judge

[26:39] William Clark.

[26:40] Mrs. Kirkpatrick voiced the criticism

[26:42] that has been consistently leveled

[26:43] against Haig by conservatives, that he

[26:46] was too quick to accommodate European

[26:48] views toward the Russians, namely soft

[26:50] European views.

[26:52] Despite his bureaucratic problems, Haig

[26:54] seemed to have gradually gained the

[26:55] upper hand over foreign policy and he

[26:58] was even able to joke about his

[26:59] troubles. And I explained to the

[27:01] president that what he didn't know that

[27:02] it was my college football experience

[27:06] that taught me the teamwork

[27:08] that has carried me so well in this

[27:09] administration. During the president's

[27:12] recent trip to Europe, Haig was the

[27:13] principal US spokesman, but Reagan aides

[27:15] were annoyed when Haig tried to change a

[27:17] UN vote on Argentina without even

[27:19] informing the president.

[27:21] Only last month, a prominent columnist

[27:23] wrote that Haig is surrounded by

[27:24] problems these days, as usual. But for

[27:27] some reason, he seems even more

[27:29] confident about the future.

[27:31] Today, that confidence came to an abrupt

[27:33] end.

[27:34] Richard Valeriani, NBC News, Washington.

[27:39] That's Nightly News for Friday. I'm

[27:41] Roger Mudd in Washington.

[27:43] And I'm Tom Brokaw in New York. Good

[27:45] night for all of us at NBC News.

[27:49] Secretary of State Haig resigns. An NBC

[27:52] News Special Report, tonight at 11:30,

[27:55] 10:30 Central.

[28:19] >> [music]

[28:26] >> Friday, here come [music] the James boys

[28:29] James Brolin, eat your heart out. in a

[28:32] heartwarming comedy. Then Megan's life

[28:34] is threatened after she witnesses a

[28:35] bizarre execution [music] on Chicago

[28:37] Story. And James is caught in the

[28:39] crossfire between masked robbers and

[28:41] angry victims on McClain's Law. Comedy,

[28:43] action, [music] adventure, fighting.

[28:48] Coming up in just a minute on the Scene

[28:49] at 6:00,

[28:50] >> President Reagan okays a White House

[28:51] task force recommendation giving McHarry

[28:54] access to Veterans Hospital in

[28:55] Murfreesboro. And the mother of a man

[28:57] accused of gunning down a family in

[28:59] Columbia says her son is innocent.

[29:01] Also in the news tonight, another wish

[29:03] may come true for the family of a

[29:05] teenager critically ill with Rocky

[29:07] Mountain Spotted Fever. And Sharon

[29:09] Puckett talks with the stars of Little

[29:10] House on the Prairie.

[29:14] These stories and more news coming up on

[29:15] the Scene at 6:00.

[29:20] Imitation dairy products in my cooking?

[29:23] Horrors. But how do you tell real dairy

[29:26] foods from imitations? Check the

[29:27] ingredient list or check for the real

[29:30] seal. It tells you it again