World News Tonight (ABC) - 1999-05-21

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] At six

[0:05] >> on World News Tonight this Friday, the

[0:07] young Georgia boy who made jokes about

[0:09] killing. Were other signs missed. Cross

[0:12] country on vegetable oil. A serious

[0:14] effort to change what's in the crank

[0:16] case. Technology on the cutting edge. 3

[0:20] 2 1 failure. A bad year for American

[0:24] rockets. And a landmark moment in

[0:26] American justice. The ultimate thrill

[0:28] kill in the century on Friday.

[0:36] From ABC News World Headquarters in New

[0:39] York, this is World News Tonight with

[0:42] Peter Jennings.

[0:43] >> Good evening. We begin in Conjur,

[0:45] Georgia again this evening where we are

[0:47] all reminded that young wouldbe killers

[0:49] are not easily identifiable. The young

[0:51] man who set off on a shooting spree at

[0:53] his high school yesterday was apparently

[0:55] nothing at all. like the young outcasts

[0:57] who committed the horror in Colorado.

[0:59] And so today, in a town not far from

[1:01] Atlanta, parents and school

[1:03] administrators and the boy's friends are

[1:05] all doing their postmortems on something

[1:07] they do not understand or may have

[1:10] missed. ABC's Aaron Hayes is there.

[1:14] >> People here now believe there were

[1:16] warning signs. The boy had joked to

[1:18] friends about shooting people. And Trey

[1:20] Carver tells ABC News the boy brought a

[1:23] gun to school nearly a month ago. and

[1:25] Trey reported it.

[1:26] >> He showed me a gun out of his book bag.

[1:28] >> And what did you do?

[1:30] >> I went to the office and said something

[1:32] about it, but they didn't do anything

[1:33] about it at the time. They just they

[1:36] just looked for him and they never found

[1:37] him cuz he had left the school early and

[1:38] the next day they searched him and it

[1:41] wasn't on him.

[1:41] >> I'm not sure what did happen.

[1:43] >> School superintendent Don Picia told ABC

[1:45] News he is unaware of the incident, but

[1:48] he might never have been told.

[1:50] >> The parents would have been notified.

[1:52] The student would have been checked out

[1:55] from that standpoint as well as the

[1:57] locker room back.

[1:57] >> Would you be notified?

[1:58] >> Would I be notified in a case that

[2:00] wasn't verifiable? No.

[2:02] >> It makes me angry that something wasn't

[2:05] done then.

[2:06] >> Trey's father thought authorities had

[2:07] followed through until Trey called him

[2:10] right after the shooting.

[2:11] >> I answered the phone, talked to him. He

[2:13] said, "Dad, that was the same kid that

[2:14] brought the gun to school." I said, "You

[2:16] got to be kidding me." He says, "No."

[2:17] Police won't say if they were aware of

[2:20] last month's incident because it is a

[2:21] juvenile matter, but we do know more

[2:23] about the circumstances of yesterday's

[2:25] shooting. The school security officer

[2:27] was not on duty when it happened, not

[2:29] scheduled to arrive until half an hour

[2:31] later. And the shooter, police now say,

[2:34] carried the two guns with him to school

[2:36] on the bus. basically had the weapon

[2:39] down inside the at least the rifle down

[2:41] in the pants leg of his blue jeans and

[2:43] he had on the baggy blue jeans that most

[2:45] of our children are wearing today,

[2:47] >> which as this police training video

[2:49] shows can easily conceal a variety of

[2:52] weapons.

[2:54] Children who rode the bus with the boy

[2:56] did not see the guns.

[2:57] >> I didn't notice any bulges or anything

[2:59] in it, like a gun or something. I I just

[3:03] picture me and my brother and my little

[3:04] sister standing at the bus stop with

[3:06] them. And if they said something full up

[3:07] to him there, it could have just taken

[3:08] out and shot him there.

[3:10] >> Authorities realize they are to a great

[3:12] extent lucky. It was not much worse

[3:14] here. They are now investigating not

[3:16] just the shooters actions leading up to

[3:18] this, but their own. Aaron Hayes, ABC

[3:21] News, Conjurs, Georgia.

[3:23] >> There are a lot of people in the country

[3:24] who have been moved by these and the

[3:26] previous shootings to ask whether they

[3:28] might have done or might do something

[3:30] different. There's a lot of talk about

[3:32] whether television, which is prone to

[3:33] repeat the most dramatic pictures,

[3:36] contributes to an unstable environment.

[3:38] Our religion editor Peggy Wayer reports

[3:41] tonight on a television station in

[3:43] Meridian, Mississippi, which thinks that

[3:45] it can do a better job.

[3:49] >> This is 24:30 News at 10.

[3:52] >> Good evening and thanks for joining us.

[3:53] Like most television stations across the

[3:55] United States, WMDN TV has aired

[3:58] countless reports on ethnic cleansing in

[4:01] Kosovo, tornado victims in Oklahoma and

[4:04] the massacre at Coline High School. The

[4:07] news hit close to home in Meridian when

[4:10] copycat bomb threats shut down local

[4:12] schools. Station manager Mark Gman began

[4:16] to wonder if his news broadcast had

[4:18] become part of the problem.

[4:20] >> You think, has the world gone crazy? Is

[4:23] there something out there just going on

[4:25] that we're partly responsible for?

[4:29] >> And was there something he could do to

[4:31] soften the impact of so much violence

[4:33] and bad news? Last week, the station

[4:36] broadcast its answer.

[4:38] >> And before we go tonight, we leave you

[4:39] with Keep the Faith.

[4:41] >> Will you join me in a very simple

[4:42] prayer? Heavenly Father.

[4:45] >> Now on every 10:00 newscast at WMDN,

[4:48] they close with a 90 second commentary

[4:51] and prayer from a local clergy member.

[4:54] >> Not only do we do news, weather, and

[4:56] sports, but we give a moment of

[4:59] opportunity for introspection,

[5:01] reflection, and say a little prayer.

[5:05] >> The residents of Meridian have

[5:06] overwhelmingly supported their station's

[5:09] decision to run a prayer. In fact, there

[5:11] hasn't been one complaint at the century

[5:14] old Weidman's Cafe. Everyone who had

[5:17] heard the news echoed the words of Billy

[5:19] Joe Price.

[5:20] >> I think we need to turn around and go

[5:22] back to the basic morals. And I think

[5:24] this is a step to that.

[5:26] >> Remember, the Lord is my light.

[5:28] >> Pastor Charles Johnson says prayer has

[5:31] been removed from public life for too

[5:34] long. Of course, everybody watch the

[5:35] news. But then at the end to help to

[5:39] soften something that has gone on, the

[5:42] children, adults, and all can see that

[5:44] there is a God still that cares and that

[5:47] is concerned.

[5:49] >> A reassuring thought deep in the heart

[5:51] of the Bible belt. With nearly 300

[5:54] churches in this county alone, there

[5:56] will be no shortage of ministers.

[5:59] >> Amen. And amen. To close the newscast,

[6:03] >> Peggy Way Meer, ABC News, Meridian,

[6:06] Mississippi.

[6:07] >> Here's another example of how people are

[6:09] reacting to the spate of shootings. In

[6:11] Westport, Connecticut, as at a lot of

[6:13] other high schools, there's an end of

[6:15] school ritual involving toy guns. This

[6:17] year, this particular graduating

[6:19] tradition has a shadow over it. Here's

[6:22] ABC's Aaron Brown.

[6:25] They showed us how they play the game.

[6:27] Over the next two weeks, three dozen of

[6:29] the best academic students in Westport

[6:31] will stalk each other, surprise each

[6:34] other, crap.

[6:35] >> And with a Nerf gun, shoot each other

[6:37] until only one is left. They've played

[6:39] the game for 17 years, a spring right

[6:42] that seems different now.

[6:44] >> I wish I could just go about my senior

[6:45] year like all other people could, and

[6:49] and play this game. I wish the game

[6:51] didn't have the connotation that it now

[6:54] does.

[6:56] It started with a movie. The 1982 film

[6:59] had college students running around with

[7:00] toy guns and movies being movies. All

[7:03] was fun until one kid started using real

[7:06] bullets. It was adopted without the

[7:09] bullets by students in dozens of high

[7:11] schools and colleges around the country.

[7:13] But in many of those places this year,

[7:16] questions are being asked.

[7:17] >> You know what message does it send to

[7:19] the people in Colorado? You're thousands

[7:21] of miles away, so we're not going to

[7:22] care. But the players say it's just a

[7:25] game.

[7:25] >> Remind me again what the name of the

[7:27] game was. The name of the game was AP

[7:29] assassination.

[7:31] >> They took assassination out of the name

[7:33] this year, but the game's the same. The

[7:35] sneaking around, the hiding under cars

[7:37] and bushes, ritualized tag with a Nerf

[7:40] gun, a tradition they've waited years

[7:42] for. I don't understand why we would

[7:45] have to change our entire lives and our

[7:47] activities and how we have fun based

[7:49] upon what you know these two monsters

[7:52] have done.

[7:53] >> When you grow up sometimes you can't

[7:56] have all the fun. You know sometimes you

[7:58] just have to step back and look at the

[7:59] situation as a whole and say this is not

[8:03] right.

[8:04] To many in this town, a town not unlike

[8:07] Conurs or Littleton at a school not

[8:10] unlike Heritage or Coline, this annual

[8:13] right of spring these days at least

[8:15] raises questions not easily answered.

[8:18] Aaron Brown, ABC News, Westport,

[8:20] Connecticut.

[8:22] >> Just one program note about guns. Later

[8:24] this evening on 2020, a frightening

[8:26] demonstration of how very young children

[8:29] managed to get at guns which their

[8:31] parents think they have locked up or

[8:33] hidden away. Great surprise. When we

[8:36] come back, some of the other news today,

[8:38] lubricating the engine with vegetable

[8:40] oil, technology on the cutting edge, and

[8:43] a critical moment in space. Time for the

[8:46] US to perform.

[8:50] This is World News Tonight with Peter

[8:52] Jennings, brought to you by Nicoderm CQ.

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[10:59] >> In cutting edge technology, it may be

[11:01] the cleaner way. A lesson for Washington

[11:03] today. About a third of the 5 million

[11:06] tons of lubricants used in the United

[11:08] States every year, most of it ends up as

[11:10] toxic waste or smog. Vegetable oil, on

[11:14] the other hand, doesn't pollute. Here's

[11:16] ABC's Jack Smith.

[11:20] Arriving in Washington, the trucks took

[11:22] 18 days to cross America. One of them

[11:24] using vegetable oil.

[11:26] >> This stuff will lubricate your engine.

[11:28] >> Yes. It's a complete replacement for uh

[11:30] petroleum uh motor oil. Researchers have

[11:32] spent the last 6 years developing what

[11:35] they hope will be a breakthrough. One of

[11:37] the advantages of this new oil is this.

[11:42] It's not toxic. And that makes disposal

[11:44] a lot cheaper and safer. Spill regular

[11:47] engine oil and you get a toxic dump.

[11:49] Spill this and it biodegrades into

[11:52] carbon dioxide and water in four weeks

[11:54] time naturally.

[11:57] Other benefits. When the vegetable oil

[11:59] is burned during combustion, it burns

[12:01] cleaner. Tests show up to 40% less

[12:04] emissions. They also show better fuel

[12:06] economy, as much as 4% better, because

[12:09] the engine doesn't have to work as hard.

[12:11] >> It's a better lubricant. It reduces

[12:14] wear. It makes your engine slipperier

[12:16] inside.

[12:17] >> But don't use the oil from your kitchen

[12:19] cupboard. Vegetable oils normally gum up

[12:22] engines. This new one made from a

[12:24] canola, soy, or sunflower base is

[12:26] specially treated so it won't gum up.

[12:29] For a month now, the postal service in

[12:31] Michigan has been trying out the new oil

[12:33] in its trucks, and results so far look

[12:35] good.

[12:36] >> It does seem to be burning cleaner. Um,

[12:38] we can tell just by the smell.

[12:39] >> When it goes on the market later this

[12:41] year, it will cost 1/3 more than regular

[12:43] oil. But if the claims about its

[12:45] performance are accurate, in the long

[12:47] run, it will save money. Jack Smith, ABC

[12:50] News, Colorado Springs, Colorado. On the

[12:53] money tonight, a revitalized Mazda. For

[12:55] the first time in six years, the

[12:56] Japanese car maker reports a profit. The

[12:59] turnaround has been led by executives

[13:00] put in place by Ford, which bought a

[13:03] third of Mazda last year. The news was

[13:06] not so good at Nissan, which has just

[13:08] reported its sixth loss in 7 years. On

[13:12] Wall Street today, the Dow Jones

[13:13] Industrial Average was down more than 37

[13:15] points to close at 10,829.

[13:18] On the Nasdaq, stocks were down just

[13:21] about 22 points. And finally, the market

[13:24] research firm Data Monitor reports that

[13:27] nearly a billion dollars was spent last

[13:29] year for access to websites containing

[13:32] adult content. In other words, sex

[13:35] continues to be one of the biggest

[13:37] sellers on the internet. In Little Rock

[13:39] today, the president's friend Charlie

[13:41] Tree pleaded guilty to two charges

[13:43] stemming from illegal fundraising, and

[13:45] he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors

[13:47] investigating fundraising in the 1996

[13:51] elections. In a moment, the sorry

[13:53] satellite record.

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[15:29] Tickle your senses.

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[16:03] From NATO headquarters today, an apology

[16:05] to several countries whose diplomatic

[16:06] facilities in Bgrade have been bombed in

[16:09] the past 2 days. A fuel depot was hit

[16:12] just 300 yards away from the Swiss

[16:13] ambassador's residence last night,

[16:15] blowing out the windows. Embassies of

[16:17] several other countries were also

[16:18] damaged, albeit slightly. ABC News has

[16:21] learned that since the bombing of the

[16:23] Chinese embassy in Belgrade two weeks

[16:25] ago, NATO has been redoing its maps of

[16:28] Bgrade, marking the location of foreign

[16:30] embassies, but it seems to be a work in

[16:32] progress. At Vandenberg Air Force Base

[16:35] in California tonight, you would not be

[16:37] surprised to find people with their

[16:39] fingers crossed. Tomorrow morning, they

[16:41] intend to launch a Titan 4 rocket, which

[16:44] will be carrying a military satellite.

[16:46] And in the last several months, there

[16:47] has been an uncomfortable number of

[16:49] launch failures for the United States.

[16:51] Here's ABC's Ned Potter.

[16:55] It is not for nothing that they call it

[16:57] rocket science.

[17:01] >> And once again, it's proving to be very

[17:03] tough. Titans, Deltas, Athenas, six

[17:06] failures in six tries. Now

[17:07] >> we have lost the signal from the data

[17:09] from the Delta 3.

[17:11] >> And what's more, the accidents seem to

[17:13] have nothing in common. If there were

[17:15] one reason for these failures, it would

[17:17] be relatively easy to uh to fix it.

[17:20] >> Leave aside for the moment that the Air

[17:22] Force has lost $3.5 billion dollars in

[17:25] spy satellites or that commercial

[17:27] satellite owners have made insurance

[17:29] claims for another two billion. A bigger

[17:31] issue is that the US could lose out at a

[17:34] critical moment in the history of the

[17:36] space age. We seem to be having this

[17:38] difficulty and reliability. This does

[17:41] not bode well for the US launch market

[17:44] >> market. Indeed, space has changed from a

[17:47] distant frontier to a booming business.

[17:50] Satellites for telephone, TV, and data

[17:52] transmission brought in some $95 billion

[17:56] last year, and the number is climbing.

[17:59] >> We're launching a lot more than we ever

[18:01] did in the past at a rate that's based

[18:04] on what the market is demanding. four

[18:06] three.

[18:07] >> But some of that demand threatens to go

[18:09] overseas.

[18:10] >> And we have liftoff.

[18:11] >> In the mid 80s, the US launched 75% of

[18:15] the world's commercial satellites. Now

[18:17] it's 45%.

[18:19] Commercial satellite makers routinely

[18:21] use Chinese, Russian, or European

[18:23] launchers, which may not be more

[18:25] reliable, but are often less expensive.

[18:29] 12.

[18:29] >> So, the pressure is on to keep costs

[18:31] down. And some engineers wonder if

[18:33] that's adding to the launch

[18:35] difficulties. If companies cut the

[18:37] payroll and cut down on the steps it

[18:38] takes to get a rocket to the pad, do

[18:40] they pay for that with lost liftoffs?

[18:43] Maybe there's a quality control problem

[18:44] in one particular factory. Maybe it's a

[18:47] matter of just trying to switch over to

[18:48] new kinds of rockets.

[18:50] >> Tonight, with another Titan waiting to

[18:52] launch, a lot of rocket scientists are

[18:54] nervous. Ned Potter, ABC News, New York.

[18:57] Overseas again in the Indonesian capital

[19:00] of Jakarta today about 2,000 students

[19:02] got into a fight with riot police. This

[19:05] was the day a year ago that President

[19:07] Sahara was forced to resign. Now the

[19:10] students want him tried for corruption.

[19:12] Much of the Sahara regime is still in

[19:14] place and many Indonesians believe that

[19:16] corruption and nepotism are as rampant

[19:19] as ever. A luxury cruise liner caught

[19:22] fire and sank off the coast of Malaysia

[19:24] overnight. This is amateur video. You

[19:27] can see the passengers getting into

[19:28] lifeboats once settled. In the end, all

[19:31] 1100 people on board the ship actually

[19:34] made it to safety. In a moment, the

[19:36] century on Friday.

[19:39] >> Here you have the sons of two of the

[19:40] wealthiest families in Chicago

[19:42] committing a brutal, brutal murder. They

[19:45] felt they were so smart they could

[19:47] concoct and commit the perfect crime.

[19:50] >> The perfect murder. Another trial of the

[19:53] century.

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[23:00] >> Tonight, you warn your kids about the

[23:02] dangers of guns. But do they listen? Our

[23:04] hidden camera experiment with toddlers

[23:06] will stun you. Three-year-olds finding

[23:08] guns pulling the trigger. Kids and guns.

[23:11] A chilling Diane Sawyer investigation on

[23:13] 2020 Tonight.

[23:16] Finally from us, the century on Friday.

[23:19] Why? Why is it we ask again and again

[23:22] that certain children are compelled to

[23:24] kill? The list of children and places

[23:26] grows longer. It's been a difficult

[23:28] issue for a very long time. 75 years ago

[23:32] today in Chicago, May the 21st, 1924,

[23:37] two young men committed murder for the

[23:39] thrill of it. One of those crimes of the

[23:42] century.

[23:47] Tonight, Liupole and Loe who wanted to

[23:50] commit the perfect murder.

[23:55] They felt that they were so smart that

[23:58] they could actually con commit any crime

[24:00] they wanted and get away with it.

[24:04] In Chicago 1924, in the midst of

[24:07] prohibition when the city was ruled by

[24:08] gangsters, Nathan Leupold and Richard

[24:11] Loe decided to commit the perfect crime

[24:14] for the sheer thrill of it.

[24:16] >> Here you have the sons of two of the

[24:17] wealthiest families in Chicago

[24:19] committing a brutal, brutal murder.

[24:22] There was a tremendous amount of

[24:24] interest in this particular case.

[24:28] >> Liupold and Lobe had it all. They were

[24:30] rich. Leopold was considered a genius.

[24:33] He spoke several languages and was an

[24:35] accomplished student of rare birds.

[24:38] This is a rare piece of film showing

[24:40] Leopold and other researchers at work.

[24:44] Richard Loe was also brilliant. He was

[24:46] the youngest graduate ever in the

[24:48] history of the University of Michigan.

[24:51] They were, these two boys, deeply

[24:53] attracted to each other and so convinced

[24:55] of their intellectual superiority that

[24:58] they thought they could get away with

[24:59] anything. After a string of petty

[25:01] crimes, they planned the perfect crime,

[25:04] the ultimate thrill. They decided to

[25:07] kidnap and murder Arand Deutsch, the son

[25:10] of a wealthy neighbor.

[25:12] >> I followed the same route, walking home

[25:14] from school every day. They knew it. The

[25:17] only reason that I was saved is because

[25:19] that day I had a dentist appointment.

[25:24] >> And so Lo and Leopold went looking for

[25:26] another victim. They decided on another

[25:29] son of privilege, 14-year-old Bobby

[25:31] Franks. They lured him into the car. He

[25:34] was hit from behind by Richard Loe,

[25:37] murdered. Uh the body was then taken uh

[25:41] to the Indiana state line, dumped in a

[25:43] culvert.

[25:44] The killers demanded a $10,000 ransom

[25:47] from Bobby Frank's parents, but the body

[25:49] was found almost immediately and the

[25:51] perfect crime began to unravel. Leupold

[25:54] had accidentally dropped his glasses

[25:56] next to the body. The glasses had a rare

[25:58] hinge and within no time, Chicago police

[26:01] were at his door. Lo was very quickly

[26:04] implicated. Their alibis fell apart and

[26:07] they both confessed. The public was

[26:10] outraged. How could two young men 18 and

[26:12] 19 who had everything do such evil?

[26:16] >> There was a very strong homoerotic

[26:19] element to the relationship between

[26:21] Leopold and Lo. This crime was really

[26:25] designed to bring them closer together.

[26:28] >> The famous Chicago lawyer Clarence Darra

[26:30] was hired by the boy's parents to defend

[26:33] them. 600 reporters came to the trial

[26:36] and there was actually even a move to

[26:37] move it into an outdoor arena where

[26:39] thousands could watch it.

[26:43] >> In court, Darl fought for their lives.

[26:45] He admitted their guilt and then argued

[26:47] diminished responsibility. He brought in

[26:50] psychiatrist who said that Liupold and

[26:52] Lo were not evil but sick and curable.

[26:55] In an 11-hour summation which reduced

[26:57] the judge to tears, Darl pled for life

[27:00] in prison. In the movie Compulsion,

[27:03] Orson Wells played Daryl.

[27:05] >> They say you can only get justice by

[27:06] shedding their last drop of blood. Isn't

[27:08] a lifetime behind prison bars enough for

[27:10] this mad act? And must this great public

[27:13] be regailed with a hanging? For God's

[27:16] sake, are we crazy?

[27:18] >> Leopold and Lo got life in prison. Lo

[27:20] was murdered there for making a

[27:22] homosexual advance on another inmate.

[27:24] But Liupold was a model prisoner. He

[27:27] became an expert on tropical medicine.

[27:30] In a way, he vindicated Darrow's

[27:32] defense.

[27:33] >> Nathan Leupold was parrolled in 1958.

[27:39] On our website, the century.com. There's

[27:40] more about Leopold and Lobe and some of

[27:42] the other trials of the century, as they

[27:45] are so often called. That is our report

[27:47] on world news tonight. Don't forget 2020

[27:49] later. And on Night Line this evening, a

[27:51] look at America's oldest guitar company.

[27:54] I'm Peter Jennings. We hope you have a

[27:56] good weekend. Good night.

[28:07] Sunday on This Week with Sam Donaldson

[28:10] and Koki Roberts.

[28:11] >> Hillary Clinton's Senate plans, gun

[28:13] control, and more reports of Chinese

[28:15] spying. ABC Sunday.

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

[28:19] News. More Americans get their news from

[28:22] ABC News than from any other source.

[28:24] abcnews.com, now a part of the Go

[28:27] Network. ABC's Cleopatra is being called

[28:30] the most entertaining big ticket event

[28:31] of the month.

[28:32] >> I am a goddess.

[28:33] >> Leonor Varela sets the screen of oil

[28:36] with Titanic's Billy Zayn.

[28:38] >> I give myself to you, my queen.

[28:40] >> A lusty, tasty treat from start to

[28:41] finish that People magazine proclaims is

[28:44] too big to miss. Cleopatra, Sunday on

[28:46] ABC.

[28:48] Now, News 2 at 6. First fast accurate.