NBC Nightly News - 1992-08-12
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:20] Jim Baker headed back to an old White
[0:22] House job, chief of staff. A bittersweet
[0:25] farewell. Getting out of Sievo. Getting
[0:28] out of harm's way.
[0:30] and high octane gasoline. Paying for
[0:33] more than you need.
[0:36] >> This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Bro,
[0:40] reporting tonight from NBC News
[0:42] headquarters in New York.
[0:44] >> Good evening. James Baker will leave his
[0:46] job as Secretary of State and try to
[0:48] revive the reelection campaign of his
[0:50] old friend, George Bush. This move has
[0:52] been in the works for weeks now. And
[0:54] tonight, NBC's John Carpent has learned
[0:56] Baker will be much more than a campaign
[0:59] guru. John.
[1:00] >> Tom. According to Republican party
[1:02] sources, Jim Baker will come to the
[1:04] White House as chief of staff, replacing
[1:07] Sam Skinner. The announcement could come
[1:09] as early as tomorrow.
[1:12] Baker left the White House today after
[1:14] what may have been his last foreign
[1:15] policy meeting with the president as
[1:17] Secretary of State. Baker's latest
[1:19] success was one he treasured. Bush's
[1:21] meeting with Israel's Prime Minister
[1:23] Ravine this week, part of Baker's
[1:25] struggle to get Arab-Israeli peace talks
[1:27] into high gear. Baker was chief
[1:29] architect for the historic M East peace
[1:31] conference last fall. But when talks
[1:34] resume in Washington this month, Baker's
[1:36] deputy, Lawrence Eagleberger, is
[1:38] expected to take over as acting
[1:39] secretary of state. The Democratic
[1:41] ticket was meeting with Rabbine today
[1:43] with Bill Clinton complaining about
[1:45] Baker's expected departure. I hope that
[1:48] that the move does not slow the move
[1:51] toward peace in the Middle East or
[1:53] otherwise weaken our responsibilities.
[1:56] >> But although Baker will leave the State
[1:58] Department, he will still play a big
[1:59] role in foreign policy from the White
[2:01] House.
[2:02] >> I think he's just adding a new uh a new
[2:04] dimension to his portfolio. Uh he's
[2:08] Jim Baker is going to be Secretary of
[2:10] State whether he holds the job or not.
[2:12] Baker will also try to get a grip on
[2:14] domestic policy in a White House which
[2:15] has lacked direction under Sam Skinner.
[2:18] But Baker's main job is to get his
[2:20] friend's reelection campaign on track.
[2:22] >> Jim Baker doesn't walk on water, but he
[2:25] knows where the rocks are
[2:28] and he'll make sure that George Bush
[2:30] only steps on the right ones.
[2:32] >> Baker knows how to manage a come from
[2:34] behind campaign. In 1976, President
[2:36] Gerald Ford was 33 points behind in the
[2:39] polls. But with Baker's help, Ford came
[2:41] within a whisker of winning. And four
[2:43] years ago, Baker was top strategist for
[2:46] Bush's win over Michael Dakus. Democrats
[2:48] know Baker is trouble for them. But can
[2:51] he revive the Bush campaign?
[2:53] >> I don't know if it's too late for that
[2:54] campaign, but if he can give the
[2:56] American people some good reasons to
[2:58] reelect George Bush, I think his skills
[3:00] will become even more legendary.
[3:02] >> Baker will work at the White House, not
[3:03] at campaign headquarters, but no one
[3:05] doubts who will be running the campaign.
[3:07] On that score, Baker intends to be
[3:09] second to no one with the possible
[3:12] exception of George Bush. Tom,
[3:15] >> thank you. John Cochran at the White
[3:16] House tonight. Today, the White House
[3:17] was also trumpeting a breakthrough
[3:19] economic development, the free trade
[3:21] agreement between the United States,
[3:23] Canada, and Mexico, bringing together
[3:25] 360 million consumers in a $6 trillion
[3:29] market. That's the world's largest. Our
[3:31] chief financial correspondent, Mike
[3:32] Jensen, has more tonight. Michael.
[3:34] >> Tom, this has been a long time coming.
[3:36] It's very important and on balance it
[3:39] will be good for the United States.
[3:43] >> This agreement will level the North
[3:44] American playing field allowing American
[3:47] companies to increase sales from Alaska
[3:49] to the Yucatan.
[3:50] >> If the agreement becomes law, Mexico
[3:53] will eliminate tariffs on US products
[3:56] averaging 10%. The US will eliminate
[3:59] tariffs on Mexican goods averaging 4%.
[4:03] The US and Canada agreed three years ago
[4:05] to eliminate tariffs on things like
[4:08] furniture and salmon. For US consumers,
[4:11] the new agreement would mean slightly
[4:13] cheaper prices for Mexican beer and
[4:16] oranges, for example. For US companies,
[4:19] it would be easier to sell in Mexico and
[4:22] to open plants there with cheap labor.
[4:25] Workers make about a tenth of what they
[4:27] earn in the United States. a sore point
[4:30] with the AFL CIO.
[4:32] >> The notion that the president's version
[4:34] of free trade is going to create more
[4:37] and better jobs in the United States is
[4:39] pure fantasy.
[4:41] >> Most analysts, however, say the
[4:42] agreement would mean more US jobs. One
[4:46] estimate has it eliminating about
[4:48] 150,000 mostly unskilled factory jobs in
[4:51] the US, but creating more than 300,000
[4:55] jobs at US companies that export. and in
[4:59] industries like banking and securities
[5:01] which would be allowed into Mexico.
[5:04] Mexican trucks would be able to drive
[5:06] all the way to Detroit instead of
[5:09] shifting their loads to US trucks at the
[5:11] border and vice versa. The agreement
[5:14] would make it more difficult for Asian
[5:16] and European countries to get around US
[5:19] tariffs by shipping goods through
[5:21] Mexico. There are concerns about
[5:24] pollution along the US Mexico border
[5:27] since Mexico has much looser standards,
[5:30] but overall most analysts say the
[5:32] agreement would be very good for the
[5:34] United States. There'll be a lot of
[5:36] wrangling in Congress over this, and
[5:38] it's not a shoein. Most likely, it will
[5:41] pass next year. Then the tariffs will be
[5:43] eliminated over a 15-year period. Tom,
[5:46] >> thanks, Mike. No breakthrough, but there
[5:48] was some relief for the administration
[5:50] and more important for the people of
[5:52] Sieo today. A welcome break in the
[5:54] killing season. And as NBC's Rick Davis
[5:57] tells us tonight, it came just in time
[5:59] for scores of women and children.
[6:03] >> It was a day of many emotions wrapped in
[6:05] confusion. There was the hope of escape,
[6:08] the sorrow of families breaking apart,
[6:10] and for a time, the fear that there
[6:12] would be no escape. 300 women and
[6:14] children gathered early this day waiting
[6:16] for five buses to carry them out of
[6:18] Sievo.
[6:21] >> Names were called by the organizers, a
[6:23] local charity, Children's Embassy.
[6:26] Parents had made the most difficult
[6:28] decision to split the family. One father
[6:31] said when his wife and child are safe,
[6:32] he will join the fight against the
[6:34] Serbs.
[6:36] >> A woman spoke of those who have battered
[6:38] her city for so long.
[6:40] They are not normal human being
[6:44] >> and many believe there is little chance
[6:46] of peace.
[6:46] >> I hope the city has a future but I think
[6:51] they will continue to shell the town.
[6:54] >> Then the confusion. The buses did not
[6:57] come. There were rumors the deal
[6:59] guaranteeing safe passage had fallen
[7:00] apart. But after a 5-hour wait, the
[7:03] buses rolled into Sieo. A bridge had
[7:05] been destroyed along their planned
[7:06] route. They had to take another way.
[7:09] People
[7:12] who have little left but their families
[7:14] now said goodbye to those families.
[7:17] >> Water was thrown a kind of prayer, a
[7:19] blessing for loved ones leaving a
[7:21] Bosnian tradition. Some will travel far
[7:24] to Germany, to Austria, a few to nearby
[7:27] Croatia. There were claims that this
[7:29] would be the beginning of a mass exodus
[7:31] of women and children from Sievo. It
[7:33] will not be. Permission for this convoy
[7:36] is written just for it. nothing else.
[7:40] >> And the safe passage was only for this
[7:42] day. On August 1st, there was a safe
[7:44] passage guarantee, but snipers killed
[7:47] two children as that bus left Sievo.
[7:50] This time, there was a UN escort, but
[7:52] that is no guarantee of safety here.
[7:57] >> The lyrics of the song are, "Love is the
[7:59] sea, love is the sky." They had escaped
[8:02] from a place where death often poured
[8:04] from the sky. Rick Davis, NBC News,
[8:08] Sievo.
[8:10] >> When Nightly News continues in a moment,
[8:12] paying more for what? At the gasoline
[8:14] pump. And on America Closeup tonight,
[8:17] Big Easy hopes for big spenders
[8:22] over the life of your car. And a study
[8:24] out today says that for most people
[8:27] that's a waste of money. NBC's Irving
[8:29] Arlavine has more tonight.
[8:31] Chester Gitlin was filling up today with
[8:34] high octane gas, believing, as do many
[8:37] Americans, that it's worth the extra
[8:39] money because it generates more power
[8:41] and keeps the engine clean to prevent
[8:44] knocking.
[8:45] >> I've always used the highest octane and
[8:47] I feel I get the performance I'm looking
[8:49] for. But according to the study by a
[8:51] consumer interest group, high octane
[8:54] premium gas provides no advantage for
[8:56] most cars can actually reduce engine
[8:59] efficiency and adds to air pollution.
[9:02] The study estimates that Americans waste
[9:05] $3 billion a year on unneeded premium
[9:08] gas and it puts the blame on ads it
[9:11] calls misleading.
[9:12] >> High octane VP Super Gasoline cleans
[9:15] their entire fuel intake system. Premium
[9:17] accounts for 20% of total gasoline
[9:20] sales. Only about 3% of cars need it.
[9:24] >> We're talking here about Porsche,
[9:26] Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari,
[9:30] Jaguar, Mercedes.
[9:33] >> The oil industry dismisses the study.
[9:36] >> These charges are absolutely ludicrous.
[9:38] We disagree entirely with the points
[9:41] being made. Still, in one recent case,
[9:44] Sonokco agreed to withdraw premium gas
[9:47] ads after the Federal Trade Commission
[9:49] charged it contained false claims.
[9:52] Today's study recommends that new cars
[9:55] list the proper octane next to the
[9:57] standard unloaded fuel only label as a
[10:00] guide to drivers.
[10:02] The easiest way though to determine your
[10:05] car's octane needs is simply to look in
[10:07] the driver's manual if you can remember
[10:10] where you put it. Irving R. Leavine, NBC
[10:13] News, Washington.
[10:16] Testing for AIDS. There's a report out
[10:18] today by the Centers for Disease Control
[10:20] that says if hospitals actively
[10:22] encourage voluntary testing, they might
[10:25] uncover more than 100,000 unrecognized
[10:28] HIV infections every year. NBC science
[10:31] correspondent Robert Bazelle.
[10:33] >> At this clinic for sexually transmitted
[10:35] diseases in Denver, staff members
[10:37] actively encourage patients to get
[10:39] tested for the AIDS virus. People with
[10:42] infections such as gorrhea or syphilis
[10:44] are at high risk for AIDS.
[10:46] >> How many episodes of herpes have you
[10:47] had?
[10:48] >> In this migrant farmworker camp in South
[10:50] Carolina, public health officials urged
[10:52] the workers to get tested for the AIDS
[10:54] virus. Studies show a huge HIV incidence
[10:57] among such workers.
[10:59] >> I want to test. You're smart.
[11:00] >> So far, most efforts to get people
[11:02] tested for HIV have been targeted in
[11:04] such high-risisk populations, but these
[11:06] efforts are finding only a tiny
[11:08] percentage of the estimated 1 million
[11:10] infected Americans. Very few testing
[11:13] efforts are carried out in hospitals.
[11:15] But the study from the CDC found that
[11:17] hospitals might be the best place for
[11:19] voluntary testing. We found that there's
[11:22] a potentially large number of HIV
[11:25] infected patients in hospitals who have
[11:27] unsuspected HIV infection.
[11:29] >> The CDC concluded that aggressive
[11:31] testing efforts in hospitals in one year
[11:34] could find 110,000 infected people.
[11:37] >> Many of them will have the risk factors
[11:39] if you probe deep enough. Uh but a
[11:42] majority are also uh unwilling or unable
[11:45] to confront those risk factors and to
[11:48] seek testing and counseling. AIDS
[11:50] activists worry there are not enough
[11:51] medical facilities available for people
[11:53] who test positive.
[11:55] >> Voluntary testing without the services
[11:57] will accomplish nothing other than
[11:59] create a large population of very
[12:01] distraught people um who have no access
[12:04] to services.
[12:05] >> Almost everyone agrees testing should be
[12:07] voluntary. The fear is that mandatory
[12:10] testing will drive people who suspect
[12:12] they are infected away from the medical
[12:14] care system and make AIDS spread even
[12:16] faster. Robert Bazelle, NBC News, New
[12:19] York.
[12:20] >> We have some more economic news tonight.
[12:22] Inflation remains on a slow track. It
[12:24] turns out wholesale prices rose just
[12:26] onetenth of a percent in July. Energy
[12:28] costs were down and food prices remained
[12:30] unchanged. On Wall Street, stocks closed
[12:33] down for moderate trading.
[12:37] Now are turning to legalized casinos for
[12:40] badly needed revenue. New Orleans, the
[12:42] country's third poorest city, is the
[12:45] latest. Three others are also
[12:47] considering it. Chicago and Hartford and
[12:49] Bridgeford Bridgeport, Connecticut.
[12:52] NBC's Betty Rollins begins her report in
[12:54] the Big Easy.
[13:03] It's a garden of Eden. You know what I
[13:06] mean?
[13:07] >> Well, not exactly a garden of Eden. And
[13:10] gambling of a sort has been around for
[13:12] years, but legislation recently was
[13:15] passed, some say rammed through by
[13:18] Governor Edwin Edwards, that will allow
[13:20] a 200,000 square ft casino right next to
[13:23] the French Quarter.
[13:25] The mayor says the casino is the only
[13:28] way to end the city's financial blues.
[13:30] There is no industry or business that I
[13:34] found that would create the kind of
[13:37] thing that this casino will create for
[13:40] downtown New Orleans.
[13:44] >> Money, jobs, and increased tourism are
[13:46] what's hoped for. And the mayor isn't
[13:48] the only one who's hoping.
[13:50] >> It's slow a little bit, but the casino
[13:53] if it help, I'd like to see it.
[13:55] >> But many locals are angered that the
[13:57] state will get the lion share. 18% of
[14:00] the take or $100 million whichever is
[14:03] greater while the city will only get the
[14:05] rent from the property which initially
[14:07] could be as low as5 or 10 million.
[14:10] This is the site of the casino to be
[14:12] where the dice may roll as soon as next
[14:14] spring. Those in favor of the gambling
[14:17] law say this will be the only casino in
[14:20] New Orleans and that will keep it from
[14:22] becoming a gambling town.
[14:24] The mayor recently visited Atlantic City
[14:27] to get a few pointers. After 16 years,
[14:30] gambling has not solved this city's
[14:33] problems. The casinos along the
[14:35] boardwalk thrive while much of the town
[14:37] still looks like this. Critics point to
[14:40] a catch 22. That one casino won't
[14:43] produce enough revenue to save the city
[14:46] and that more casinos would ruin it.
[14:48] It's just physically impossible uh for
[14:52] that many people to come into one
[14:54] limited facility and bet that much to
[14:56] get those kinds of large revenue
[14:58] numbers.
[14:58] >> So, one casino won't do it, but what if
[15:00] there are more?
[15:01] >> Well, that's the concern. If we get
[15:04] multiple casinos, then New Orleans
[15:06] becomes a casino town.
[15:08] >> And what's wrong with that? And casino
[15:10] towns are not viewed by the business
[15:13] community as a good place to do
[15:15] business,
[15:16] >> nor possibly as a good place to visit.
[15:20] People want to come to this city because
[15:22] it's unusual. It's different from the
[15:24] rest of America. This casino will change
[15:27] its character.
[15:29] >> New Orleans has taken a gamble on its
[15:31] future. Will its character change? And
[15:35] will what some call this packed with the
[15:37] devil pay off?
[15:44] >> Betty Rolland, NBC News, New Orleans.
[15:48] >> In the last few years, legalized
[15:50] gambling has blossomed across this
[15:52] country. More than 100 casinos, the
[15:54] reservations for Native Americans,
[15:56] riverboat gambling in four states,
[15:58] legalized poker parlors in three others.
[16:01] More to come. Experts say, bet on it.
[16:05] campaign today. One day after President
[16:07] Bush angrily denied a tabloid report
[16:09] that he had had an affair, First Lady
[16:11] Barbara Bush addressed the issue in an
[16:13] interview with NBC's Jim Mcclashevski.
[16:16] >> It's an outrageous lie. And the day we
[16:20] start letting lies run a campaign
[16:23] instead of talking about the issues is
[16:25] the day we're in sad shape. And I think
[16:28] the press ought to pull themselves up
[16:30] and look at what they're doing and
[16:32] behave themselves. They're they're
[16:34] taking a campaign and putting it on a
[16:36] level that it should not be.
[16:39] >> The Republican convention opens Monday
[16:40] in Houston and today party chairman Rich
[16:42] Bond fired up the GOP troops with an
[16:45] attack on Bill Clinton and his wife
[16:47] Hillary. Mrs. Clinton, a lawyer, has
[16:49] advocated the legal rights of children.
[16:51] Bond today claimed that she quote
[16:53] likened marriage and the family to
[16:55] slavery. Bill Clinton called Bond's
[16:58] attack pitiful. Also in Houston tonight,
[17:00] John Chancellor with his commentary.
[17:03] Wonders never cease in politics. This
[17:06] week, the 1992 platform of the
[17:08] Republican party actually accused the
[17:10] incumbent Republican president, George
[17:12] Bush, of a mistake. Nobody can remember
[17:15] anything like that happened before,
[17:17] ever. A party platform criticizing its
[17:19] own sitting president. But there it was.
[17:22] Language was said Mr. Bush's agreement
[17:24] in 1990 to a tax increase was a mistake.
[17:28] The president's men have taken that word
[17:30] out. But this little flap shows us how
[17:32] goofy things can get in the Republican
[17:33] party.
[17:35] The fact is the president's getting a
[17:37] bad rap on that tax increase. It was
[17:39] part of a deal with the Congress to
[17:40] reduce the deficit, which is necessary.
[17:43] It amounted to only $20 billion in new
[17:45] tax rates, which is a drop in the bucket
[17:47] these days. And it was a compromise,
[17:49] which is what politics is all about. But
[17:52] it was red meat to hot gospel supply
[17:54] ciders who act as though George Bush is
[17:56] a secret liberal hiding in a closet. Mr.
[17:59] Bush did make a mistake in 1988 when he
[18:01] said, "Read my lips, no new taxes."
[18:04] Presidents must never say never. But his
[18:06] acceptance of a compromise on new taxes
[18:09] two years later was done for the good of
[18:11] the country and he deserves praise for
[18:12] that. Instead, the tax increase has
[18:15] become a totem of in the tribal wars of
[18:17] the Republican party, a bloody banner
[18:20] raised by the conservatives. They lost
[18:22] this battle this week, but we'll be
[18:24] hearing more about them next week. and
[18:26] I'll be back with more on the
[18:27] Republicans tomorrow.
[18:29] >> See you then, John. Republican Senator
[18:31] Mark Hatfield of Oregon got a red mark
[18:33] beside his name today, but nothing more.
[18:36] The Senate Ethics Committee said
[18:37] Hatfield violated Senate rules by
[18:39] failing to disclose thousands of dollars
[18:41] worth of gifts. No punishment is
[18:43] anticipated
[18:46] in the Barcelona Olympics and today he
[18:48] brought that medal home. The 19-year-old
[18:51] champion lightweight came back to Los
[18:52] Angeles a winner, just as he promised
[18:54] himself and his late mother that he
[18:57] would. La Hoya credits his family for
[19:00] keeping him in the ring and off the mean
[19:02] streets of East Los Angeles.
[19:06] Another American athlete is trying to
[19:08] make the transition from one high-risk
[19:10] job to another, from fighter pilot to
[19:12] cowboy, as in Dallas Cowboys. NBC's Jim
[19:16] Cummings. During the Gulf War, it was
[19:18] the Warthogs, the A-10 fighter planes,
[19:21] and their pilots who were considered the
[19:22] tough guys because they were the tank
[19:24] killers, flying low and slow through
[19:26] heavy enemy gunfire. Chad Hennings flew
[19:29] a warthog.
[19:31] >> There's nothing like it. Getting down
[19:32] low, 250 ft, you know, flying in the
[19:34] mountains a million rack, flying the
[19:36] A-10, shooting that 30 mm gatling gun.
[19:39] That was a lot of fun, too. But there's
[19:41] nothing like probably playing
[19:42] professional football, too. So this
[19:44] tough guy surprised the Dallas Cowboys
[19:46] when he asked to try out for the team.
[19:48] Hennings had in fact been drafted by the
[19:50] Cowboys in 1988 in one of the last
[19:52] rounds because team owners never
[19:54] expected him to play. Hennings, an Air
[19:57] Force Academy graduate, had volunteered
[19:59] to be a fighter pilot, a top gun, an
[20:01] 8-year commitment. With the fall of
[20:04] communism, the Air Force released
[20:06] Hennings 5 years sooner than expected.
[20:08] And now it's time to get back and do
[20:10] something that I've been dreaming of
[20:11] since I was 11 years old.
[20:13] >> But can he make the team? Hennings grew
[20:16] up on this big farm outside a small town
[20:18] in Iowa, worked the fields in the
[20:20] summer, played football in the fall, was
[20:23] ignored by all the big colleges until
[20:25] his high school coach drove 800 miles to
[20:28] the Air Force Academy. They didn't know
[20:30] much about Chad. They didn't know what
[20:31] he was like. We threw a tape in the
[20:33] video tape and all of a sudden, wow,
[20:35] this guy's a player.
[20:36] >> A player indeed. Hennings won the
[20:38] Outland Trophy as the best college
[20:40] lineman in the country his senior year,
[20:42] but that was 5 years ago. And the
[20:44] naysayers complain Hennings, number 95,
[20:47] is now overrated. His parents don't
[20:49] think so.
[20:50] >> He gets things in his mind that he's
[20:51] really going to do it, and he does.
[20:53] >> But I really firmly believe he'll make
[20:55] it because of the type of a kid that he
[20:57] is.
[20:57] >> Now, his coaches are beginning to agree.
[21:00] >> He plays sometimes better than he
[21:02] practices. I mean, uh, he shows things
[21:04] in the games that I can see why he won
[21:06] the outland trophy when he was in
[21:08] college.
[21:08] >> The same qualities that made him a
[21:10] Warthog pilot, his fantasy.
[21:13] >> Have one grandchild sitting on one knee,
[21:14] one on the other. Tell this one a fire
[21:16] pod story. Tell this one a football
[21:17] story. Hopefully,
[21:18] >> don't bet against it. Jim Cumins, NBC
[21:21] News, Dallas.
[21:25] >> That's the news for Wednesday. I'm Tom
[21:27] Brokoff.
[21:28] >> I'll see you again tomorrow night.
[21:33] Move.