World News Tonight (ABC) - 1999-07-30

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:03] On World News Tonight this Friday, the

[0:05] Atlanta killer had promised to kill

[0:07] those who sought his destruction and

[0:09] save his murdered children from a

[0:11] lifetime of pain.

[0:13] >> Linda Trip is indicted for taping phone

[0:15] conversations with Monica Lewinsky. The

[0:18] biggest baby food producer in the

[0:20] country changes its mind. NASA has a

[0:23] smashing idea for the moon. He just

[0:26] keeps rolling.

[0:28] >> And the Broadway show that made history,

[0:32] the century on Friday.

[0:41] From ABC News World Headquarters in New

[0:44] York, this is World News Tonight with

[0:47] Peter Jennings.

[0:48] >> Good evening. We begin in Atlanta

[0:49] tonight. It has become clearer in 24

[0:51] hours what motivated Mark Barton to kill

[0:53] a dozen people, including his wife and

[0:56] two children. Police in Atlanta say he

[0:58] spelled it all out in detailed notes he

[1:00] left with the bodies in his home. His

[1:03] trouble started long before he walked

[1:05] into the investment firm yesterday

[1:07] afternoon. Here's ABC's Aaron Hayes.

[1:11] >> The outward signs reveal little. The

[1:14] neighborhood quiet. The man Mark Barton

[1:17] reserved, controlled, a coach for Melvin

[1:20] Bryant's team.

[1:20] >> He was a coach for the soccer team in

[1:22] baseball and leader for the Boy Scouts.

[1:24] >> He was like the role model. Something

[1:25] you see off television, you know, but

[1:27] whenever you looked at him, it's like

[1:29] something just didn't seem right cuz it

[1:30] was too perfect. You no one's life is

[1:32] that perfect. That was revealed in the

[1:35] letters Mark Barton left behind in his

[1:38] home

[1:38] >> at 6:38

[1:41] a.m.

[1:44] to whom it may concern.

[1:48] Leanne is in the master bedroom closet

[1:52] under a blanket.

[1:55] I killed her on Tuesday night.

[2:00] I killed Matthew and Michelle

[2:03] Wednesday night.

[2:05] >> Matthew 11, Michelle 8, and his second

[2:08] wife, Leanne. He hid her body from the

[2:11] children before he killed them.

[2:13] >> I hit them with a hammer

[2:16] in their sleep

[2:18] and then put them face down in the

[2:22] bathtub

[2:24] to make sure they did not wake up in

[2:27] pain. and then he tucked them into their

[2:29] beds where police found them.

[2:31] >> There were some toys placed uh on the

[2:34] children.

[2:34] >> The only reference to the killing spree

[2:36] that followed.

[2:37] >> I plan to kill the others. I don't plan

[2:40] to live very much longer,

[2:43] just long enough to kill as many of the

[2:46] people that greedily sought my

[2:49] destruction. people in the day trading

[2:51] offices where Barton had played the

[2:53] stock market by computer, where the

[2:55] bodies were found, where he just

[2:57] recently lost $100,000.

[3:00] ABC News has learned that Barton changed

[3:02] his will on Monday, made his mother a

[3:04] beneficiary, and that one of the weapons

[3:06] he used, the 9mm he bought 6 years ago,

[3:10] just after the murder of his first wife,

[3:11] Deborah. Barton was a prime suspect, got

[3:15] $300,000 from her life insurance.

[3:17] Behaviorally, we had a great deal of

[3:19] evidence indicating Mark Barton was

[3:22] responsible for the crime.

[3:23] >> Barton, though, was never charged and in

[3:26] his final letters denied that killing,

[3:28] wrote mainly of his children, offered

[3:30] them to heaven.

[3:32] >> Michelle

[3:35] Elizabeth Barton,

[3:37] my daughter,

[3:40] my sweetheart. I give you Matthew David

[3:43] Barton,

[3:46] my son,

[3:48] my buddy,

[3:49] my life.

[3:52] Please take care of him.

[3:54] >> A prayer throughout Atlanta tonight for

[3:56] all of the victims of Mark Barton. Aaron

[3:59] Hayes, ABC News Atlanta.

[4:02] >> It's obvious that Barton was a very

[4:03] disturbed man and there is no real

[4:06] evidence to connect the violence to his

[4:07] failure in the stock market. But we do

[4:09] know he lost a lot of money as a day

[4:11] trader. And so inevitably, day trading

[4:14] is getting a lot of attention. Here's

[4:16] ABC's Betsy Stark.

[4:19] >> Day trading is a fast action way to play

[4:21] the stock market that lets individuals

[4:23] play the market just as the pros

[4:25] sometimes do.

[4:26] >> Join me in a

[4:27] >> making quick profits on sudden and

[4:29] sometimes very small changes in a

[4:31] stock's price.

[4:32] >> Take the money. But market regulators

[4:34] are increasingly concerned that it's

[4:36] become a high stakes, high-risisk game,

[4:38] especially dangerous to those who are

[4:40] new to it.

[4:40] >> I'm down threeinis right now.

[4:42] >> Probably a lot of people that aren't

[4:45] suited to be doing it are doing it. And

[4:48] that may be where some concern is.

[4:50] >> What are you doing? Buy

[4:51] >> unlike traditional investing in which

[4:53] investors typically buy stocks for the

[4:55] long term based on assets and earnings,

[4:58] day traders look to make a quick buck

[5:00] riding a stock's momentum. They often

[5:02] buy and sell within minutes.

[5:04] >> Instantaneous executions. I have an

[5:07] access to the real markets. I'm not

[5:08] going through a middleman.

[5:10] >> Day trading companies such as Altech

[5:12] Investment Group, where Mark Barton

[5:14] traded have caught the eye of regulators

[5:16] who say most of these firms overstate

[5:18] the profits to be made and understate

[5:20] the risk of losing everything. Earlier

[5:23] this year, Altech was fined by

[5:25] regulators for deceptive advertising.

[5:27] Ads suggested investors could achieve

[5:29] financial independence by trading with

[5:32] the firm. There are only about 50,000

[5:34] people who day trade full-time, but the

[5:37] numbers are growing so fast that just

[5:39] yesterday, two groups that oversee

[5:40] electronic trading called for stricter

[5:43] rules disclosing the risks of playing

[5:45] the market moment to moment. Betsy

[5:47] Stark, ABC News, New York.

[5:50] >> In Maryland today, Linda Trip was

[5:51] indicted for taping telephone

[5:53] conversations with Monica Lewinsky

[5:55] without Lewinsk's consent. the tapes

[5:57] that in many ways started it all. Here's

[5:59] ABC's Barry Sarathan.

[6:02] >> Trip's indictment was the result of a

[6:04] year-long investigation, and state

[6:06] prosecutor Steven Montanarelli said the

[6:08] reason was simple.

[6:09] >> Because I think she broke the law.

[6:11] >> The taped conversation cited in the

[6:13] indictment was from December of 1997.

[6:16] >> Hey, look, Monica, we already know that

[6:19] you're going to lie under oath.

[6:21] >> I have lied my entire life. Prosecutors

[6:24] acknowledge that they do not often

[6:25] pursue wiretap cases because they have

[6:28] to prove the defendant knew taping was

[6:30] illegal.

[6:32] >> But Trip has admitted that she knew she

[6:34] was breaking the law. She said she

[6:36] needed the tapes to protect herself. A

[6:38] spokesman for Trip denounced today's

[6:40] indictment, calling it

[6:41] >> be the most disgraceful,

[6:43] transparently politically motivated

[6:46] campaign of vengeance in recent American

[6:49] history. Prosecutors never make

[6:51] decisions, nor do grand jurors to

[6:53] destroy anybody. It is an issue of

[6:55] accountability.

[6:56] >> Monica Lewinsky was unavailable for

[6:59] comment today, but she is expected to be

[7:01] called to testify. If convicted, Linda

[7:04] Trip could face up to 10 years in prison

[7:06] andor a $20,000 fine. Barry Sarapen, ABC

[7:10] News, Washington.

[7:13] >> Investigators have all but ruled out

[7:14] mechanical failure in the crash that

[7:16] killed John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and

[7:18] sister-in-law two weeks ago. And so

[7:21] tonight, the focus is still on his

[7:22] judgment. There was new news today.

[7:24] Here's ABC's Lisa Stark.

[7:28] >> Government investigators said today

[7:29] examination of the wreckage so far

[7:32] reveals nothing mechanically wrong with

[7:34] Kennedy's airplane. The engine and

[7:36] propeller were working. There was no

[7:38] fire on board. The plane did not break

[7:41] up before it hit the water. The Navy

[7:43] recovered about 75% of the aircraft,

[7:46] including a simple cockpit voice

[7:48] recorder, but it was destroyed by the

[7:50] impact.

[7:52] Investigators also say 2 hours before

[7:55] that fatal flight, Kennedy checked an

[7:57] internet website used frequently by

[8:00] pilots for the weather. The forecast, 6

[8:03] to 8 miles visibility.

[8:05] But ABC News has learned that an hour

[8:08] later, the website was updated,

[8:10] indicating the chance of fog and low

[8:12] clouds. But Kennedy, on his way to the

[8:14] airport, did not check the internet site

[8:16] again. And at the time of his takeoff,

[8:19] the official FAA forecast was reporting

[8:22] good visibility until well after

[8:24] midnight. Lisa Stark, ABC News,

[8:27] Washington.

[8:29] >> When we come back, the Republicans get

[8:30] their tax cut and the real negotiations

[8:33] will begin. Plus, baby food and

[8:36] biotechnology, a preemptive strike.

[8:41] >> This is World News Tonight with Peter

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[10:51] On Capitol Hill today, a very big step

[10:53] in the ongoing tax dance. The Senate

[10:55] passed, a massive $792 billion tax cut.

[10:59] It's the biggest in nearly 20 years, and

[11:01] now the Senate and the House will work

[11:03] out the differences in their tax

[11:04] packages. The president has threatened

[11:07] to veto both of them, but people in

[11:09] Washington are now convinced that a tax

[11:11] cut is coming. ABC's Linda Douglas is on

[11:14] the Hill tonight. agenda.

[11:15] >> Well, Republicans and the president are

[11:17] still very far apart, but there is

[11:18] reason to believe that there will be a

[11:20] tax cut perhaps down the road. There are

[11:22] already some potential areas of

[11:24] agreement. In Congress, both Democrats

[11:26] and Republicans have called for tax

[11:28] breaks in education for college tuition

[11:31] and student loans, health care for

[11:33] long-term care and health insurance for

[11:35] the self-employed, pensions to expand

[11:38] coverage, child care to expand the child

[11:40] care credit, and small business for

[11:43] equipment purchases. But there is no

[11:45] agreement on the major question, how big

[11:47] should a tax cut be? Democrats insist

[11:50] Congress commits some of the budget

[11:52] surplus to shoring up Medicare before

[11:54] cutting taxes. But Republicans insist

[11:56] the president wants to hang on to the

[11:58] surplus so he can spend it on new

[12:00] programs. What this bill is doing is

[12:03] showing the clear differences between

[12:05] the president and Congress. Now, both

[12:08] sides will highlight those differences

[12:09] to score those partisan points, but both

[12:12] sides would like to be able to say in an

[12:14] election year, Peter, that they gave the

[12:16] taxpayers back some money. Thanks very

[12:18] much, Linda Douglas. On Capitol Hill

[12:19] this evening, some other news on the

[12:20] money tonight. The government says that,

[12:23] excuse me, personal income was up 7/10en

[12:25] of a percent last month. That's the

[12:26] largest one-mon increase since last

[12:28] fall. And it means that a lot of

[12:30] companies are having to pay more to keep

[12:32] their employees. Incidentally, spending

[12:34] last month was up.3%.

[12:37] Will this ever happen here? The European

[12:39] Union has passed a law that requires car

[12:41] makers to take back cars when they're

[12:44] headed for the junkyard and recycle the

[12:47] material for future use. The car

[12:49] industry will fight very hard to see

[12:51] that it doesn't happen here. On Wall

[12:53] Street today, the Dow Jones Industrials

[12:55] were down 136 points to close at 10,655.

[13:00] On the NASDAQ, stocks were down 1 and a

[13:03] half points to close at 2638.

[13:07] We learned today that the largest

[13:08] producer of baby foods in the country

[13:11] has agreed to change two of the most

[13:13] basic cereals in its baby food, which

[13:15] millions of people use because of a

[13:18] warning it got about genetically altered

[13:20] food from one of the world's most

[13:22] activist environmental organizations. As

[13:24] ABC's John McKenzie report, it looks a

[13:27] little as if the company was spooked.

[13:30] By focusing on babies and what they are

[13:33] given to eat, Greenpeace has found a

[13:35] potent way to fight the use of

[13:37] genetically engineered food.

[13:38] >> People have an emotional response when

[13:41] they hear that uh baby's foods may be

[13:43] contaminated uh with these novel genes

[13:46] that have never before been part of the

[13:48] human diet.

[13:49] >> Greenpeace triggered alarm bells at

[13:51] Gerber when it faxed this letter asking,

[13:53] "What steps have you taken, if any, to

[13:56] ensure you are not using genetically

[13:57] engineered ingredients?" Gerber had been

[14:00] using genetically engineered corn and

[14:02] soy in its cereals. But within weeks of

[14:04] receiving that letter, the company

[14:06] concerned about its relations with the

[14:08] public announced a stunning about face.

[14:10] It will no longer use any genetically

[14:13] engineered crops.

[14:14] >> We will make sure that the suppliers

[14:16] either give us an affidavit or that we

[14:18] can check personally and and and verify

[14:21] that these crops are not genetically

[14:23] enhanced.

[14:23] >> There is still no proof that any of

[14:25] these products are harmful to babies or

[14:27] people of any age. The Food and Drug

[14:29] Administration says they're as safe as

[14:31] any other food. But for a baby food

[14:33] company as large as Gerber, the

[14:35] immediate focus is sales, not science.

[14:38] The Gerber Company expects to phase out

[14:40] the use of genetically engineered crops

[14:42] by the end of the month. And other

[14:43] makers of baby food say they too have

[14:46] begun to switch. John McKenzie, ABC

[14:48] News, New York.

[14:50] >> When we come back, crashing into the

[14:52] moon deliberately.

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[16:16] >> There's nutrition news about heart

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[17:03] >> In a matter of hour, the space agency

[17:05] intends to send a spaceship called the

[17:06] Lunar Prospector on its final mission.

[17:09] They intend to crash it onto the moon.

[17:12] ABC's Ned Potter tells us why.

[17:16] Scientists thought the moon was dry as

[17:19] dust, but the little lunar prospector

[17:21] found signs that it's otherwise flecked

[17:23] with frozen water. Now, how to prove

[17:26] that? By ending the mission. Controllers

[17:28] say it's been such a smashing success

[17:30] that they'll smash the ship on the

[17:32] moon's south pole.

[17:34] >> We going to send a humanmade craft into

[17:36] the moon at a mile a second. It's faster

[17:39] than a speeding bullet.

[17:40] >> Here's the idea. Let's pretend this ball

[17:42] is the moon and this hole we've gouged

[17:44] in it is a crater. Now, sunlight would

[17:47] have boiled off any ice from most places

[17:49] on the moon eons ago, but not near the

[17:52] lunar poles. If a crater there is deep

[17:55] enough, sunlight coming in from the side

[17:58] would never reach the bottom.

[18:00] >> 3 2 1 commands away. Copy. Late tonight,

[18:05] these controllers will aim lunar

[18:07] prospector right into one of those polar

[18:09] craters while telescopes watch from

[18:11] Earth and orbit. With luck, the

[18:13] celestial shipwreck will kick up just

[18:15] enough debris and water vapor for the

[18:18] telescopes to measure.

[18:19] >> If we see them, then we know that truly

[18:22] we have hit water.

[18:23] >> You may think that water on the moon

[18:25] would be a nice scientific curiosity,

[18:27] but NASA's practically salivating over

[18:29] what you can do with it. Not only is

[18:32] water good for moon settlers to drink,

[18:34] it's also H2O, hydrogen plus oxygen,

[18:37] good for breathing or filling a fuel

[18:40] tank.

[18:40] >> We may have rocket fuel on the moon. We

[18:43] may have the stuff that future human

[18:45] outposting people might need to survive

[18:48] there.

[18:48] >> The experiment is a long shot. The

[18:50] scientists say there's only a 10% chance

[18:52] they'll hit water, but that's a 10%

[18:54] chance of proving that the moon is not

[18:56] as dead as we thought it was.

[18:59] Ned Potter, ABC News, New York.

[19:02] >> By the way, the lunar prospector is

[19:03] carrying the remains of the famous

[19:05] astronomer Eugene Shoemaker. If the

[19:06] lunar crash landing succeeds, Mr.

[19:09] Shoemaker will be the first person to be

[19:11] buried there. In the words of his wife,

[19:14] he'll be the man in the moon to us in a

[19:17] moment, the century on Friday.

[19:22] I think it's one of the most potent

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[22:37] >> tonight. A secret kept for 18 years. The

[22:40] daughter the world never knew Dr. Jay

[22:42] had talks with Barbara Walters.

[22:45] >> When and how did your mother tell you

[22:47] who your father was

[22:48] >> on 2020 tonight.

[22:53] Finally this evening for the century on

[22:54] Friday we go to Broadway. Things are

[22:56] very good on Broadway right now. The

[22:58] plays and musicals are packing them in.

[23:00] In one respect, it's the musical Ragtime

[23:03] about race and self-respect in the 1920s

[23:06] which leads us back to our century event

[23:08] tonight. In 1927, a single Broadway show

[23:12] changed the American theater forever.

[23:18] >> River.

[23:22] >> Tonight, the century's most significant

[23:24] musical,

[23:26] Showboat. He just keeps rolling. He

[23:31] keeps on rolling along.

[23:37] When the century began, the musical was

[23:39] an infant art form without, it seemed,

[23:42] much promise. Most offerings were

[23:44] innocent musical reviews like the

[23:46] Zekefield Follys.

[23:48] >> Musicals were uh primarily u trivial.

[23:54] Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets

[23:56] girl.

[23:57] >> But in December 1927, when the curtain

[23:59] rose on Jerome Kern and Oscar

[24:02] Hammerstein story about life on a

[24:04] Mississippi riverboat, the musical came

[24:07] of age overnight.

[24:09] >> I've always said that show that the

[24:11] American musical theater is everything

[24:13] before Showboat and everything after

[24:14] Showboat.

[24:18] In every showbook production, on stage

[24:21] or on film, the music is stunning.

[24:31] >> Six of its eight songs became American

[24:33] standards. because he's just

[24:41] been

[24:43] fish.

[24:45] >> The songs advanced the plot, developed

[24:48] character, and kept the audience

[24:50] involved in the drama. hand.

[24:56] >> What was really revolutionary was that

[24:57] you had serious drama in the same play

[25:01] with songs that you could go out of the

[25:02] theater whistling. Audiences accustomed

[25:05] to fluff were suddenly confronted with

[25:07] gambling addiction, alcoholism, and

[25:10] racism. Showboat was the first Broadway

[25:13] show to treat black characters

[25:15] seriously.

[25:16] Because no one had ever done a serious

[25:18] musical before, Flo Ziggfield, who

[25:21] produced the first Showboat in 1927,

[25:24] worried that he'd made a mistake. The

[25:26] audience just filed out without having

[25:28] applauded very much. And of course, 2

[25:30] hours later, the reviews came in and

[25:32] they were wonderful. And the next day,

[25:33] there was a riot at the box office.

[25:36] People responded to Showboat's themes

[25:38] because they spoke directly to the

[25:40] issues of the day. Remember, this was

[25:43] the era of Prohibition. Blacks and

[25:45] whites were mixing more. Women were

[25:48] stepping out on their own.

[25:50] But in this feverish new urban society,

[25:53] the enormous changes going on made many

[25:56] people uneasy.

[25:58] In the musical's most dramatic song sung

[26:01] by a black riverboat worker, Kern and

[26:03] Hammerstein used the image of nature to

[26:06] grab at the heartstrings.

[26:12] deep.

[26:18] >> I think it's one of the most potent

[26:21] anthems

[26:23] ever written for the theater.

[26:28] >> Over the years, as it was revived over

[26:30] and over again, Showboat created

[26:32] considerable controversy for its use of

[26:34] language offensive to many. Till the

[26:37] judgement day.

[26:39] >> The show opened with the quat train.

[26:42] [ __ ] all work on the Mississippi.

[26:43] [ __ ] all work while the white folks

[26:45] play loading up boats with the bales of

[26:47] cotton. Get to know rest till the

[26:49] judgment day.

[26:50] >> Historians insist that was part of

[26:52] Hammerstein's plan.

[26:54] >> Hammerstein told me very specifically

[26:55] that he intended to shock complacent

[26:57] audiences in 1927.

[27:05] And he did with a musical that changed

[27:08] theater history.

[27:19] Glory

[27:21] forever.

[27:25] >> There's a lot more about the birth and

[27:27] development of the Broadway musical from

[27:29] Shobbo to hair and beyond. It's all on

[27:31] our website, the century.com. That's our

[27:35] report on World News Tonight. We hope

[27:36] you have a wonderful weekend. I'm Peter

[27:38] Jennings. Don't forget 2020 and Night

[27:39] Line. Good night.

[28:07] Sunday on this week with Sam Donaldson

[28:09] and Ki Roberts.

[28:10] >> Another deadly shooting. Can gun laws

[28:12] help? Plus, the showdown over tax cuts.

[28:15] ABC Sunday.

[28:17] >> This has been a presentation of ABC

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