NBC Nightly News - 1988-03-31

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (YouTube automatic captions)

[0:03] Pressure in the me controversy shifts to

[0:05] President Reagan and the largest

[0:07] international drug bust in US history.

[0:12] >> NBC Nightly News with Tom Bro.

[0:16] >> Good evening. I'm Connie Chung sitting

[0:18] in for Tom Brokaw who is off tonight.

[0:20] President Reagan today came under

[0:22] increasing pressure to take some kind of

[0:24] action to deal with the turmoil

[0:26] surrounding Attorney General Edward Me.

[0:28] As for me, he continued to stonewall any

[0:30] talk about resignation and sidestepped

[0:33] any questions about his troubles. NBC

[0:35] News chief White House correspondent

[0:36] Chris Wallace has more.

[0:40] >> Me today continued his efforts to carry

[0:42] on as attorney general. But at a news

[0:44] conference called to announce a big drug

[0:46] bust, he was peppered with questions

[0:48] about his future.

[0:49] >> Defend yourself against suggestions that

[0:53] that Mr. Well, before he

[0:56] question obviously is not on today's

[0:58] topic, so I'm only going to answer

[1:00] questions on this topic. All right,

[1:02] Pete, you know better than that. Come

[1:03] on.

[1:03] >> But the questions will not go away.

[1:06] There were reports today that William

[1:07] Weld, who quit this week as head of the

[1:09] Justice Department's criminal division,

[1:11] had said he would seriously consider

[1:13] indicting Mace if he were investigating

[1:15] him. That created a new firestorm on

[1:17] Capitol Hill where even Republicans

[1:19] demanded the president take charge. The

[1:21] >> president really has to talk to Mr. Weld

[1:24] has to examine the facts and then has to

[1:26] make a presidential decision.

[1:28] >> STM Thurman, ranking Republican on the

[1:30] Senate Judiciary Committee, met with me

[1:32] to express deep concern about disarray

[1:34] at the Justice Department. And the legal

[1:36] community started weighing in. The

[1:38] incoming president of the American Bar

[1:40] Association told NBC News, "The

[1:42] situation at justice must be cleared up.

[1:45] can only be cleared out by the president

[1:47] personally investigating the matter uh

[1:50] talking to the people involved, finding

[1:52] out what's happening in the department

[1:54] and uh then uh uh advising the American

[1:58] people.

[1:59] >> But there was no give at the White House

[2:01] where a spokesman said the president had

[2:02] no reaction to Weld's talk about

[2:04] indicting me. Aid say Mr. Reagan has put

[2:07] out word he doesn't want to discuss the

[2:08] me affair and doesn't want his staff

[2:10] putting any pressure on me to leave.

[2:12] >> I see you sir. All of this has created a

[2:14] dilemma for the vice president, who

[2:16] sources say is deeply troubled by the

[2:18] impact of the scandal on his campaign

[2:20] and that of other Republicans this fall,

[2:22] but is unwilling to push Mr. Reagan. One

[2:25] of the country's leading experts on

[2:26] legal ethics, says the president and

[2:28] attorney general failed to realize what

[2:30] damage they're doing to the Justice

[2:31] Department.

[2:32] >> One person and his boss who are failing

[2:34] to recognize the seriousness of the

[2:37] current situation

[2:38] >> and the situation isn't going away. Late

[2:41] today, three Democratic senators called

[2:43] for congressional hearings on the

[2:45] problems at the Justice Department. The

[2:47] first witnesses, those top officials who

[2:49] quit earlier this week. Chris Wallace,

[2:52] NBC News, at the White House.

[2:54] >> NBC News law correspondent Carl Stern is

[2:57] with us now in Washington. Carl, we just

[2:59] heard the head of the ABA urge President

[3:01] Reagan to get involved and clear up the

[3:03] misair. Is there real concern in the

[3:05] legal community?

[3:06] >> Well, that's the whole thing. The

[3:08] president and the attorney general are

[3:10] looking upon this whole thing as a

[3:11] matter of politics. And what they're not

[3:13] seeing is that lawyers and prosecutors

[3:16] believe real damage is being done to the

[3:18] Justice Department. Uh that's why Burns

[3:21] and Weld quit. One person pointed out

[3:23] today that a regular employee of the

[3:25] Justice Department accused of the sort

[3:27] of troubles that Me has uh wouldn't last

[3:31] one minute under Justice Department

[3:33] guidelines and a presidential order that

[3:35] bar even an appearance of impropriy.

[3:38] >> What about within the Justice

[3:39] Department? Are employees there really

[3:41] demoralized?

[3:42] >> Well, there are 75,000 employees. Most

[3:44] of them do the same old jobs in the same

[3:46] old way. Uh but the plain fact this this

[3:49] has been embarrassing. uh Weld and Burns

[3:52] would be the first to tell you that uh

[3:54] it was not as much a source of pride uh

[3:57] to be working there any longer. It was

[3:59] not as much fun to work at the Justice

[4:01] Department. It was to some extent uh it

[4:04] involved a loss of professional esteem

[4:06] and that's why they left.

[4:08] >> All right, thank you Carl Stern. The

[4:10] news conference at which Attorney

[4:12] General Mis appeared today was called to

[4:13] announce that the FBI has cracked the

[4:16] largest international drug case ever

[4:18] developed by federal authorities. A

[4:20] heroin network stretching from the US to

[4:22] Italy. Agents charged 69 suspects here

[4:25] in the US and 164 in Sicily. James Pulk

[4:29] has details of what me called a stunning

[4:31] success for the FBI.

[4:34] The FBI says these men ran the largest

[4:37] heroin ring ever in this country,

[4:39] operating as an arm of the Sicilian

[4:41] mafia. Arrests were made on both sides

[4:43] of the Atlantic today, mainly in Italy

[4:45] and in New York City. Attorney General

[4:48] Meis made the announcement.

[4:49] >> The tentacles of this network spread out

[4:51] literally all over the country.

[4:54] >> The FBI said the Sicilians carried the

[4:56] heroin into New York for resale along

[4:59] the East Coast, in the South, and the

[5:00] West. These three men were arrested in

[5:03] Greensboro, North Carolina. One of them

[5:05] carrying two pounds of heroin worth a

[5:08] quart of a million dollars. The FBI said

[5:11] this clothing store in Brooklyn was a

[5:13] clearing house for the heroin sales.

[5:15] According to court records, the

[5:16] ring-headed office on Fifth Avenue in

[5:18] New York run by a Catholic priest who

[5:21] went to meet one shipment at the New

[5:22] York airport to help pay for the heroin

[5:25] coming into this country. The FBI said

[5:27] the ring smuggled cocaine back to Italy.

[5:30] Both nations cooperated in the

[5:31] crackdown.

[5:32] >> Thank you very much. Thank you very

[5:34] much.

[5:34] >> While the arrests had been planned for

[5:36] some time, Mace clearly was pleased to

[5:38] have something to turn attention away

[5:40] from his troubles.

[5:42] >> Don't you think you're hurting the

[5:43] president, Mr. Mace, by I I don't by

[5:45] having a drug case like this? Not at

[5:47] all. I think it's exactly what it's

[5:48] exactly what the president has in mind.

[5:51] >> James Pulk, NBC News, Washington.

[5:55] Coming up on NBC Nightly News, American

[5:57] pilot David Nelson shot down over Laos.

[6:01] This le oceanian claims Nelson was alive

[6:04] 5 years after PS were released. Steve

[6:07] Delaney on the controversy over his

[6:09] story.

[6:10] Frequent airline flyers are jamming

[6:12] ticket counters to cash in on special

[6:14] triple mileage offers. Robert Hager on

[6:17] the deadline tonight. Later on our news,

[6:21] >> the van patents meet the Yogi Bears.

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[7:22] By a vote of 87 to7, the Senate today

[7:25] approved a $ 48 million aid package that

[7:28] resumes non-military assistance to the

[7:31] Nicaraguan Contras and may help bring

[7:33] about a final settlement of their long

[7:35] war with the Sandinistas. President

[7:36] Reagan is expected to sign the measure

[7:38] tomorrow. The major elements, almost $18

[7:41] million in non-lethal aid, food,

[7:43] clothing, and medical supplies for the

[7:45] Contress, an equal amount for medical

[7:47] care for children injured in the war,

[7:49] and 10 million to pay the expenses of a

[7:51] commission to verify the ceasefire

[7:53] signed last week. In Nicaragua,

[7:55] President Daniel Ortega said the new

[7:57] contra aid would not jeopardize the weak

[7:59] old truce.

[8:01] The White House today took new steps to

[8:03] keep Panama's General Manuel Noriega

[8:05] from getting cash. It said a US

[8:07] government payments due Panama will be

[8:09] put in a special escrow account and that

[8:11] American companies and individuals who

[8:13] owe Panama taxes should do the same. The

[8:16] action follows yesterday's disclosure

[8:18] that the Noriega regime got $5 million

[8:21] in tax payments from several US

[8:23] companies in Panama. Meanwhile, NBC's

[8:25] George Lewis reports there are new signs

[8:27] that the opposition to Noriega is

[8:29] collapsing.

[8:31] >> More signs of retreat today by the

[8:33] people who oppose General Noriega. More

[8:36] stores open, more traffic on the

[8:37] streets. Leaders of the opposition

[8:40] acknowledged the general strike was

[8:41] hurting them more than it was hurting

[8:43] the general.

[8:44] >> Probably will be the end of the strike

[8:45] pretty soon, but we think that the

[8:48] crisis will not end.

[8:51] >> The Panameanian Catholic Church was also

[8:53] retreating. Two days ago, church leaders

[8:56] called on General Noriega to step down

[8:58] and offered to mediate a peaceful

[9:00] solution to the crisis. At a morning

[9:02] mass, Archbishop Marcos McGrath told his

[9:04] congregation Noriega doesn't want the

[9:06] church to mediate. Banks were preparing

[9:08] to reopen on a limited basis next week.

[9:11] This could help keep Noriega afloat by

[9:13] pumping some badly needed dollars back

[9:15] into the economy.

[9:16] >> Noriega still doesn't have enough cash

[9:18] for everyone on the government payroll

[9:20] and the workers don't like getting

[9:22] checks.

[9:22] >> Now, they are only given us this check,

[9:26] but there is no way to change it.

[9:28] >> But there may be a way around that.

[9:30] Stores have been told to honor the

[9:32] checks, then use them to pay electric

[9:33] bills and other government charges. Sort

[9:36] of a barter system. When he appeared in

[9:38] public Tuesday night, Noriega seemed as

[9:40] cocky as usual. A man successfully

[9:43] buying time. A man who feels that time

[9:46] is on his side. If Noriega refuses to

[9:49] leave, many Panameanians feel they must

[9:51] go. There was a huge crowd today at the

[9:54] passport office.

[9:56] >> Why do you want to get out of Panama?

[9:58] >> It's obvious. Who wants Noriega? This

[10:00] young man asks.

[10:02] >> Nora.

[10:04] >> The opposition has vowed to keep

[10:06] protesting until Noriega goes. But these

[10:09] people realize the general is not ready

[10:11] to budge. George Lewis, NBC News, Panama

[10:14] City.

[10:15] >> In Washington, House and Senate

[10:17] negotiators agreed today that Japan's

[10:19] Toshiba Corporation should be punished

[10:21] by major trade sanctions. They attach

[10:24] those sanctions to a huge trade bill

[10:26] that President Reagan is threatening to

[10:27] veto. NBC's Bob Kerr reports tonight on

[10:30] the bitter trade debate.

[10:33] >> For months, lobbyists for Toshiba and

[10:35] others affected by the trade bill waited

[10:37] to see what Congress would do. Today,

[10:39] Toshiba found out as punishment for

[10:42] selling militarily sensitive technology

[10:44] to the Soviets. A three-year import ban

[10:47] on all Toshiba machine products. It

[10:49] could cost the company about $300

[10:51] million. And for 3 years, the US

[10:54] government could not buy any Toshiba

[10:57] products. In a lastminute letter,

[10:59] Secretary of State Schultz and other

[11:01] cabinet officials argued against the

[11:03] ban, predicting a chilling effect on

[11:05] relations with Japan. But that did not

[11:08] stop the Republican senator who pushed

[11:10] through the Toshiba ban.

[11:12] >> I think most Americans feel like I do

[11:13] that national security is more important

[11:15] than whether we buy a particular TV set

[11:18] or a computer.

[11:19] >> The Toshiba action is one of many

[11:21] controversial items in a thousand pages

[11:23] of legislation aimed at lowering the

[11:25] trade deficit. It would compel Mr.

[11:28] Reagan to act more forcefully on trade.

[11:30] He doesn't like that and believes the

[11:32] economy is okay without the bill, but

[11:35] its authors believe the president needs

[11:37] a push.

[11:38] >> Every year that we've come back from

[11:39] overseas on a trading mission, it's

[11:42] always been give us more time, and we've

[11:44] done it. Time is up. Now, we've got to

[11:46] write a bill and present it to the

[11:48] president. The president will veto that

[11:50] bill at his peril. The bill would

[11:53] require 60 days notice to workers before

[11:55] large plants are closed, may include

[11:58] language to retaliate against unfair

[12:00] trading practices, and possibly a

[12:02] measure to require greater disclosure of

[12:04] investments by foreigners in the US.

[12:07] House Speaker Wright says the trade bill

[12:09] will be a top priority right after

[12:11] Congress returns from its Easter break.

[12:13] And though Wright says it would be

[12:15] foolish for President Reagan to veto the

[12:17] bill, it's doubtful Congress has enough

[12:19] votes to override the president. Bob

[12:22] Kerr, NBC News, at the US capital.

[12:25] >> Also in Washington today, the House

[12:27] Judiciary Committee voted to extend the

[12:29] amnesty program for illegal aliens in

[12:31] this country from the May 4th deadline

[12:33] to November 30th. The bill now goes to

[12:36] the full House, which is expected to

[12:37] consider it after the Easter recess.

[12:54] It's time to change your bulb to

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[14:18] >> The Vietnamese government said today it

[14:20] will turn over the remains of 27 US

[14:22] servicemen listed as missing in action

[14:24] during the Vietnam War. This will be the

[14:27] largest number of MIA remains returned

[14:29] at one time. The transfer is to take

[14:32] place next Wednesday. The Pentagon says

[14:34] there still are more than 2300 Americans

[14:37] missing in Southeast Asia. This man, a

[14:40] Le Oceanian refugee named Somdi

[14:41] Fomachan, is telling a controversial

[14:44] story about two Americans declared

[14:45] killed in action. He lives in this

[14:47] country now and brought his story of the

[14:49] Americans with him. NBC's Steve Delaney

[14:52] reports tonight on Sdi's disputed

[14:54] claims.

[14:55] >> Sdi Famachan is now a school janitor in

[14:58] Tecumpsa, Nebraska, but once he fought

[14:59] the communists in Laos. He escaped from

[15:02] prison there in 1984 with the story of

[15:04] meeting two American pilots who had been

[15:06] shot down over Laos. The bodies of Army

[15:09] Captain David Nelson and Navy Lieutenant

[15:11] Stanley Smiley were never recovered.

[15:14] Somd says those men were alive in 1978,

[15:17] 5 years after we'd been told all

[15:19] American PS had been freed. We can

[15:22] observe armed forces day with all of our

[15:26] courageous prisoners of war set free and

[15:29] here back home in America.

[15:32] Sundi says the pilots visited the Hing

[15:34] prison camp in northern Laos briefly and

[15:36] he drew this sketch of the camp. He said

[15:39] Captain Nelson was ill. Si said that he

[15:42] was assigned to take care of him because

[15:43] of his medical training. When Nelson

[15:46] died, SD buried him. He says he saw

[15:48] Nelson's name on papers in his clothing.

[15:51] Smiley who had written his name in the

[15:53] dirt because his guards would not let

[15:54] him speak knew that Nelson had died.

[15:57] >> He cry and he cry he cannot talk. He I I

[16:01] see look like know but

[16:03] >> Si says he never saw Smiley again.

[16:06] >> The Defense Intelligence Agency, the

[16:08] DIA, the agency that keeps track of

[16:10] prisoners of war for the government does

[16:12] not believe Sdi's story. In letters sent

[16:16] last year to Captain Nelson's family,

[16:17] the DIA said that Somdi was interviewed

[16:20] in depth in 1985 and that his story

[16:23] about an American pilot proved to be

[16:26] false. They say Somdi later recanted

[16:28] that story. NBC News, however, was told

[16:31] by the government official who

[16:32] interviewed Somd that the subject of

[16:35] Americans never came up. Si says he

[16:37] never took back his story. Nelson's

[16:40] family was not pleased with that

[16:42] investigation.

[16:42] >> It's too quick. It was too cut and dried

[16:45] to me. It did. It was too cold. Like

[16:47] they didn't want to look.

[16:49] >> They left it half done. And that there

[16:52] should be a lot more done.

[16:54] >> In February, NBC News showed SMD a

[16:56] random group of pictures of 21 men,

[16:59] including a never published photo of

[17:00] Nelson.

[17:03] After 8 minutes,

[17:04] >> the Nelson, you know, Dson,

[17:07] >> the Nelson who died.

[17:09] >> Yeah.

[17:10] He gave the pilot's correct height and

[17:12] said he had burn scars. Nelson's

[17:14] helicopter had crashed and exploded in

[17:16] 1971.

[17:18] Somdi did not try to identify Smiley,

[17:20] who he says he had just met briefly.

[17:22] Shortly after that identification was

[17:24] made, the DIA went to Omaha and

[17:26] interviewed Somdi again. The agency

[17:28] stands by its original conclusion that

[17:30] Sam's claim is not factual. Tom Rother,

[17:34] Sdi's employer, believes him. I I

[17:38] feel that that he he's being completely

[17:40] honest with me when he tells those

[17:42] stories just as I have been with him.

[17:44] >> The families of the pilots don't know

[17:46] whether to believe Si or not

[17:48] >> and they are uncertain that the

[17:50] government has told them all it knows

[17:51] about their loved ones.

[17:53] >> My brother was a hero in that war

[17:57] and if we can't even go after and

[18:00] clarify

[18:01] you know what's happening with our

[18:03] heroes and where are we?

[18:07] Steve Delaney, NBC News.

[18:16] >> You can depend on AT&T long distance

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[19:17] >> Come on. Got a lot of eggs there.

[19:19] >> Oh, you know what I always say. Easter

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[19:24] >> Just look at this day. It's going to be

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[20:17] >> In the Persian Gulf War today, Iraq

[20:19] fired three missiles at Iranian civilian

[20:21] targets and then called a temporary halt

[20:23] to such attacks, the so-called War of

[20:26] the Cities. But the war of the tankers

[20:28] raged on. This criate super tanker was

[20:30] set ablaze by fire from an Iranian

[20:32] warship loaded with 1 and a.5 million

[20:34] barrels of crude oil that ran a ground

[20:36] near Dubai. All of its 45 crewmen were

[20:39] rescued.

[20:41] On the Israeli occupied West Bank today,

[20:43] leaders of the Palestinian rebellion

[20:45] called for riots next week during the

[20:47] visit of Secretary of State George

[20:48] Schultz. And Israel's Prime Minister

[20:50] Shamir vowed to crush the Palestinian

[20:52] rebels like grasshoppers. Today, one

[20:55] more Palestinian, a teenage boy, was

[20:57] shot and killed by Israeli soldiers.

[21:00] Israel has clamped tight controls on

[21:02] press coverage of the West Bank amid

[21:04] charges that reporters incited some of

[21:06] the violence there. In his commentary

[21:08] tonight, John Chancellor has more about

[21:10] that. John

[21:11] >> Connie, one of the myths of the modern

[21:14] world is that in times of civil unrest,

[21:16] the press and television are

[21:18] troublemakers. That may have been true

[21:20] once in the early days of the civil

[21:22] rights movement in the United States.

[21:23] People sometimes waited for the TV

[21:26] cameras to arrive before they started

[21:27] demonstrating. I have had southern

[21:29] sheriffs tell me that things would have

[21:31] been peaceful if the cameras and

[21:33] reporters hadn't been there. Yet, we all

[21:36] know that the civil rights movement was

[21:37] an idea whose time had come. Coverage or

[21:40] no coverage. The Israeli government has

[21:43] been arguing along the same lines. It

[21:44] says the Palestinians will be less

[21:47] violent and thereby less threatening to

[21:49] Israeli troops if the press is kept out

[21:51] of the occupied territories. But

[21:53] yesterday, when the press was kept out,

[21:56] yesterday was one of the bloodiest days

[21:57] of the uprising. You can argue that the

[22:00] presence of reporters and cameras

[22:01] actually keeps violence down. At least

[22:05] 115 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier

[22:08] have been killed in the uprising, and

[22:10] not one of those deaths was witnessed by

[22:12] the cameras. We've seen a lot of rocks

[22:14] and bombs thrown. We've seen dead

[22:16] bodies, but no killings have taken place

[22:18] under the eyes of the press. And anyone

[22:21] with experience in civil unrest, whether

[22:23] in Mississippi in the 1960s or the West

[22:26] Bank or Gaza in the 1980s, knows that

[22:29] the really bad things happen when the

[22:31] reporters and cameras aren't around. The

[22:33] argument that the press makes things

[22:35] worse wasn't true then and it isn't true

[22:37] now, which is commentary for this

[22:39] evening. Connie, thank you.

[22:40] >> Thank you, John. This year's Pulitzer

[22:42] prizes for journalism in the arts were

[22:44] announced today. They included Tony

[22:46] Morrison, the fiction prize for her

[22:48] novel Beloved, and playwright Alfred

[22:50] Yuri, the drama prize for his play

[22:52] Driving Miss Daisy. The public service

[22:54] journalism prize was won by the

[22:56] Charlotte Observer for its coverage of

[22:57] the ptl television ministry scandal. And

[23:00] the investigative reporting prize was

[23:02] won by the Chicago Tribune for its

[23:04] series on waste and self-interest on the

[23:06] Chicago City Council. The Chicago the

[23:08] Charlotte Observer won a second Pulitzer

[23:11] for editorial cartooning. The Wall

[23:13] Street Journal and the Miami Herald also

[23:14] won two prizes each. And the Night

[23:16] Ritter newspapers won a total of six.

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[23:47] Hello.

[23:53] >> Lots of people with telephones not made

[23:55] by AT&T are reporting some kind of

[23:57] complaint. When was the last time you

[23:59] had a complaint with an AT&T phone?

[24:05] >> Get the first class phones of AT&T. You

[24:08] get what you pay for. AT&T, the right

[24:10] choice.

[24:12] I'm Brian Gumble. Tomorrow morning on

[24:13] Today, the new offensive in the trade

[24:15] war with Japan.

[24:16] >> I'm Maria Shrivever. Also, Sophia Lauren

[24:18] and cheer star Woody Harlson.

[24:19] >> Join us tomorrow morning on Today.

[24:23] It's a pathway that leads from here to

[24:26] tomorrow, from sea to shining sea.

[24:31] The great American love belongs to New.

[24:39] The feeling of movements of power and

[24:42] grace. The road up ahead in the land.

[24:46] Yeah. The great Americ's

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[25:03] Green. The mouth freshening clean. Ah,

[25:08] this is a time of many changes. Tomorrow

[25:10] brings a new month. This Sunday morning,

[25:12] we will spring ahead into daylight

[25:14] saving time. And starting Sunday, a

[25:16] postage stamp will cost 25. And midnight

[25:19] tonight is also a deadline. A deadline

[25:21] that has a lot of people scrambling to

[25:23] get up in the air. NBC's Robert Hager

[25:26] reports that the deadline is for

[25:28] frequent flyers.

[25:33] Airlines started all this to attract

[25:34] business during slack winter months. Fly

[25:37] twice anytime from January up to

[25:39] midnight tonight and become eligible for

[25:41] triple mileage credits on that airlines

[25:43] frequent flyer plan the rest of this

[25:45] year. It worked, especially this week

[25:48] when airline counters were already

[25:49] crowded with holiday travelers and

[25:51] students on spring break. At Chicago's

[25:53] O'Hare airport, United says today may be

[25:55] its busiest day ever. Even the

[25:57] business-like Washington to New York

[25:59] shuttle routes are affected. Nancy

[26:01] Kenbomb moved up her sales trip.

[26:03] >> Well, I had a choice of flying either

[26:04] today or next week, and I set up the

[26:06] meeting for this week cuz I wanted to

[26:07] get my triple mileage on Eastern so that

[26:09] I could take advantage of it later in

[26:11] the year.

[26:12] >> Kermit Ellis rescheduled a whole board

[26:14] meeting to today. But one day, when all

[26:16] the newly eligible passengers go on to

[26:18] pile up triple mile awards and trade

[26:21] them for free seats, that's troubled.

[26:23] Travel attorney Mark

[26:24] >> Pestro. The triple mileage programs are

[26:26] a complete disaster for the airlines. It

[26:30] will probably end up costing them about

[26:33] two and a half billion dollars. One

[26:37] airline executive said recently he

[26:38] thought the whole idea had been dumb.

[26:41] United, Eastern, and Continental have

[26:43] all just announced restrictions on how

[26:45] the free mileage can be spent and other

[26:47] airlines may follow. Still, passengers

[26:50] have struggled to become eligible for

[26:52] triple mileage credits by taking those

[26:54] first two required flights, no matter

[26:56] how short. From San Francisco to

[26:58] Oakland, for example, it's only 4 miles.

[27:00] You can drive across the Bay Bridge for

[27:02] 75. Take Rapid Transit for a buck 55. Or

[27:07] take United Airlines, $68 round trip.

[27:10] Possible only because longer flights to

[27:12] the Bay Area stop at both cities coming

[27:15] and going. Flying the short hops makes

[27:17] no sense except that counts as two

[27:19] flights. Nancy Pikford flew across the

[27:22] bay Tuesday morning, waited all day at

[27:24] the Oakland airport.

[27:25] >> I've been doing needle work all

[27:26] afternoon and now I'm ready to go back.

[27:28] >> More than 100 others have done the same

[27:30] this week with dreams of free seats to

[27:32] exotic places one day. Today, the

[27:35] destination leaving Oakland airport is a

[27:37] bit closer.

[27:38] >> Welcome to United Airlines flight 295

[27:40] and service to San Francisco. It takes

[27:42] only 5 minutes and it's not Paris, but

[27:45] it's a pretty flight just the same.

[27:47] Robert Hager, NBC News.

[27:50] >> And that's our news. I'm Connie Chung in

[27:52] New York. I'll see you again tomorrow

[27:54] night. Thank you for joining us. And for

[27:56] all of us at NBC News, good night.

[28:10] Tonight's

[28:28] Cheers Bar turns to Barnyard.

[28:31] >> I thought it smelled like a old man.

[28:33] >> GOOD GUY, MISS

[28:35] >> Molly's back in an open and close case

[28:37] for laughs.

[28:38] >> Wow.

[28:39] Then on LA Law, will Kuzzac's past claim

[28:42] destroy his future?

[28:43] >> Tell me the truth, Mickey. Are you going

[28:44] to leave me

[28:45] >> tonight?