Good Morning America (ABC) open - 1992-07-22

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] doing has been vindicated by someone of

[0:02] the stature of Judge Breck.

[0:04] >> A Michigan judge drops first-degree

[0:06] murder charges against Dr. Death, the

[0:08] inventor of the [music] suicide machine.

[0:18] And good morning, America. [music] I'm

[0:19] Joan London.

[0:20] >> And I'm Charles Gibson. It's Wednesday,

[0:21] July 22nd. Good to have you with us this

[0:23] morning. Hope you can stay with us for a

[0:25] time. And as we saw by that tape, as

[0:26] [music] we see Jack Vorin, the so-called

[0:29] suicide doctor, is still making

[0:30] headlines. This is the second time that

[0:33] murder charges have been dropped against

[0:34] him for assisting in the deaths of

[0:36] chronically ill people. But of course,

[0:37] it isn't the end of the controversy. In

[0:39] this half hour, we will speak with him

[0:41] about his latest apparent victory and

[0:43] also about the highly charged issue of

[0:45] euthanasia.

[0:46] >> Also ahead, uh, we're going to have a

[0:47] little time with Democratic vice

[0:49] presidential nominee Al Gore and his

[0:50] wife Tipper. Steve Fox caught up with

[0:52] them last night on the last leg of the

[0:54] Clinton Gore Great American Bus Tour, as

[0:57] we [laughter] call it. I'm not sure they

[0:58] do. And money editor Tyler Mat takes a

[1:01] look at how business may be affected by

[1:03] Americans with Disabilities Act. It's a

[1:05] new law that some are calling the most

[1:06] far-reaching legislation since the Civil

[1:08] Rights Act of the 1960s. And in the

[1:11] weather, Dr. Christian, as usual, has

[1:12] the prescription.

[1:14] >> Well, thank you very much, Charlie. For

[1:15] all you ailing patients out there,

[1:16] residents of the northern half of the

[1:17] country will be paying a price for the

[1:19] refreshingly cool air and sunny skies

[1:21] that moved in earlier this week. Rain

[1:23] sometimes heavy developing in the

[1:25] northwestern and north central states

[1:26] will spread eastward over the next few

[1:28] days.

[1:28] >> We go first to the news leading the

[1:30] news, the Republican campaign for

[1:32] presidency and talk about a new job for

[1:34] one of the president's most loyal

[1:35] soldiers. Mike Schneider with that story

[1:36] on the news of the day. Mike,

[1:37] >> thank you Charlie. Good morning

[1:38] everybody. James Baker is still on the

[1:40] road this morning, still searching for

[1:41] peace in the Middle East. But there is a

[1:43] new report out this morning which

[1:44] essentially backs up what we told you on

[1:46] Monday, that he's about to step aside as

[1:48] Secretary of State and hit the campaign

[1:50] trail to help President Bush win

[1:51] re-election. For more on this right now,

[1:53] we're going to go live to the White

[1:54] House and ABC's Anne Compton. Good

[1:56] morning, Anne.

[1:57] >> Good morning, Mike. If and when Jim

[1:59] Baker comes here to the White House next

[2:01] month to assume the role of basically

[2:03] the greatest among equals on the

[2:05] president's staff, his assignment would

[2:07] be to sharpen and focus the Bush

[2:09] administration's economic message.

[2:11] Economics has the White House far more

[2:13] worried than the poll numbers. President

[2:15] Bush found that out yesterday as he

[2:17] campaigned through Pennsylvania.

[2:20] Middle-income families told President

[2:22] Bush how much they need economic help,

[2:25] including his proposal for $1,000

[2:27] tuition grants for private and public

[2:29] schools. One was a mother with eight

[2:32] children, one an eighth grader on

[2:34] scholarship, finally an unemployed

[2:36] father on disability. President Bush

[2:38] urged each one to have patience that

[2:40] better economic times are coming.

[2:43] >> I am not pessimistic about the economic

[2:45] future. We've been through this long,

[2:48] slow recession. and we're growing a

[2:50] little bit now as a country. In my view,

[2:52] we are poised for a good recovery.

[2:54] >> But there was a darker assessment being

[2:56] delivered in Washington. Federal Reserve

[2:58] Chairman Alan Greenspan, who generally

[3:00] agrees with Bush administration policy,

[3:03] warned in congressional testimony that

[3:05] the recovery is only modest, even

[3:07] subnormal, and it will leave the country

[3:09] with a lingering pain over joblessness.

[3:13] The whole Bush strategy was based on the

[3:15] presumption that by this time in the

[3:17] campaign, Americans would be feeling

[3:19] better economically. Jim Baker might

[3:21] return to the White House with a legend

[3:23] of somewhat the mightest touch

[3:24] politically, but it's doubtful he

[3:26] personally could turn around the economy

[3:28] single-handedly, Mike.

[3:29] >> And what can he do? I mean, why is Mr.

[3:31] Baker considered to be such an asset so

[3:33] important to the president?

[3:34] >> Well, there's no one in the world who is

[3:36] closer to George Bush. It dates back not

[3:38] just the 15 or 16 years in which uh

[3:41] Secretary Baker has been involved in

[3:42] presidential campaigns back in the Ford

[3:44] campaign, but uh maybe 30 years when

[3:47] back in Houston, young George Bush asked

[3:49] his young friend Jim Baker to come into

[3:50] the Republican party and help with a

[3:52] congressional race. The two are very

[3:54] close and I'm told Jim Baker is the only

[3:55] one who can turn around and tell the

[3:56] president, "No, that's a stupid

[3:58] decision. Do it another way."

[4:00] >> And thanks very much, ABC's Anne Compton

[4:02] live for us this morning from the White

[4:03] House. Now, the word from the Democratic

[4:05] camp on this Wednesday morning is meet

[4:06] me in St. Louisie. That is where the end

[4:08] of the road occurred for the Bill

[4:10] Clinton Al Gore bus tour, the one that

[4:11] started in New York City 6 days ago and

[4:14] a thousand miles ago. Yesterday's

[4:16] itinerary included four states and just

[4:18] as many rallies. And once again, ABC's

[4:20] Ron Claybornne was along for the ride.

[4:23] Bill Clinton brought his made for TV

[4:25] traveling road show to Vanelia,

[4:26] Illinois, once the state capital where

[4:28] Abraham Lincoln served as a state

[4:30] legislator. Abraham Lincoln is turning

[4:33] over in his grave tonight to think of

[4:35] what George Bush and Dan Quail have done

[4:38] to the Republican party and the United

[4:40] States of America.

[4:42] >> Vandelia is Republican territory, but

[4:45] the area is reeling from nearly 10 years

[4:47] of double-digit unemployment, making it

[4:49] fertile ground for Clinton's economic

[4:51] message.

[4:52] >> Most people in this crowd tonight are

[4:54] here because you're working harder for

[4:56] less money than you were making 10 years

[4:58] ago. Am I right? Earlier in the day,

[5:01] campaigning in southern Indiana, Clinton

[5:03] came out firing at President Bush for

[5:05] deriting his plans for cutting the

[5:06] deficit and raising taxes on the rich.

[5:09] >> Mr. Bush said the other day, Bill

[5:11] Clinton's plan is smoke and mirrors.

[5:13] >> He said, "No."

[5:15] >> That's right. If ever there was an

[5:17] expert on smoking mirrors, it's him.

[5:20] >> Late last night, the buses reached St.

[5:22] Louis, their final destination, 1,000 m

[5:25] and 5 days after Clinton and Al Gore

[5:27] left New York City. By any measure, this

[5:30] bus trip has been a tremendous success

[5:31] for Clinton and Gore. They drew huge

[5:34] crowds everywhere. And even more

[5:36] important, they got the kind of

[5:37] saturation media coverage that

[5:39] politicians crave. Still, the election

[5:41] is nearly 4 months away. And in order to

[5:44] win, the Democrats are going to have to

[5:45] sustain this momentum in the face of

[5:47] what are likely to be powerful

[5:49] Republican counterattacks. Ron

[5:52] Claybourne, ABC News, St. Louis.

[5:55] We go overseas to Iraq right now where

[5:56] there has been a retreat and something

[5:58] of an escalation at the same time. It

[5:59] all involves those UN weapons

[6:01] inspectors. They've now pulled away from

[6:03] the spot outside Iraq's agriculture

[6:05] ministry, the place where they've been

[6:06] trying to move on inside and take a look

[6:08] at some documents for more than two

[6:10] weeks. They say they were getting afraid

[6:11] of all the Iraqi demonstrators and the

[6:13] possibility of violence. But at the UN

[6:15] itself, members of the security council

[6:17] are now talking about possibility of air

[6:19] strikes against Iraq unless Saddam

[6:21] Hussein starts to cooperate with the

[6:22] nuclear inspectors.

[6:24] Grief mixed with anger at a funeral in

[6:26] Polmo, Italy yesterday. Anger at the

[6:28] mafia and the government's failure to

[6:30] stop mafia violence. ABC's Mike Lee

[6:32] reports.

[6:34] >> Emotions were running high among police

[6:36] who attended the funeral for five of

[6:38] their colleagues murdered while

[6:39] escorting one of Italy's top anti-mafia

[6:42] prosecutors. Italy's president and the

[6:44] prime minister were caught up in a near

[6:46] riot as angry police tried to force the

[6:49] national police chief out of the church.

[6:51] The officers accused their boss of

[6:53] failing to give them enough resources to

[6:55] battle organized crime. Their anger had

[6:58] boiled over in the wake of Sunday's carb

[7:00] bomb attack. The main target, Paulo

[7:02] Barcelino, had helped to imprison many

[7:05] mafia leaders and was widely known to be

[7:07] a marked man. Most of the people we

[7:10] talked with here in Polmo insist that

[7:12] the mafia can be defeated, but only if

[7:15] politicians stop relying upon organized

[7:17] crime for money and votes. Many people

[7:21] complain that law enforcement officials

[7:23] have their hands tied by weak laws made

[7:25] in Rome.

[7:26] >> The judges, the magistrates, they are on

[7:29] the first line, but there is no one that

[7:33] backs them up.

[7:34] >> Some police bodyguards, fearing a repeat

[7:37] of this latest tragedy in their ranks,

[7:39] are threatening to withdraw their escort

[7:41] services for public officials. "We are

[7:44] expected to fight a war," said one

[7:45] policeman. But we are not allowed to

[7:48] fight the mafia with its own brutal

[7:50] tactics. Mike Lee, ABC News, Polarmo,

[7:54] Sicily. And that is the news till now.

[7:56] It's time to check in with Charlie and

[7:58] Spencer.

[7:58] >> Thanks very much, Michael. Eight minutes

[8:00] after the hour.