The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour (PBS) - 1992-07-29

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:07] Good evening. I'm Jim Lara in

[0:08] Washington. And I'm Judy Woodruff in New

[0:11] York. After the news summary, we take a

[0:13] close look at the indictments against

[0:15] Washington movers and shakers Clark

[0:17] Clifford and Robert Alman for their role

[0:19] in the BCCI banking scandal. Then,

[0:22] Elizabeth Brackett reports on efforts to

[0:24] stop dads from skipping out on child

[0:27] support. Next, Europe's latest refugee

[0:30] crisis. What to do with two and a half

[0:33] million displaced citizens of

[0:35] Yugoslavia. And finally, an Amaiwall

[0:38] essay about the living art of Pablo

[0:40] Picasso.

[0:43] Part of helping the world live and

[0:45] communicate better is keeping it well

[0:47] informed.

[0:50] That's why funding for the McNeel Lair

[0:52] NewsHour is provided by AT&T

[0:57] and by PepsiCo

[1:04] Pepsico

[1:06] and by the Corporation for Public

[1:08] Broadcasting and viewers like you. Clark

[1:12] Clifford was indicted today on bribery

[1:15] and other charges growing out of the

[1:16] BCCI banking scandal. So was his law

[1:19] partner, Robert Altman. Clifford is the

[1:22] 85year-old former defense secretary and

[1:25] adviser to Democratic presidents. He and

[1:27] Alman, who is 45, were charged in

[1:30] separate New York State and federal

[1:32] indictments. The state charges were for

[1:34] bribery and for lying about BCCI's

[1:37] secret ownership of the Washingtonbased

[1:39] First American bank shares. Clifford was

[1:42] the bank's chairman, Altman its

[1:44] president. The federal charges were for

[1:46] enriching themselves through secret

[1:48] sweetheart loans, among other things.

[1:50] Clifford and Alman issued a written

[1:52] statement saying the indictments were a

[1:54] result of mean-spirited suspicion and

[1:57] unfounded speculation. They said there

[1:59] was no credible evidence of any

[2:01] wrongdoing. We'll have much more on this

[2:03] story right after the news summary.

[2:04] Judy,

[2:05] >> the United Nations inspection of Iraq's

[2:08] agriculture ministry in Baghdad ended

[2:10] today. The inspectors found no weapons

[2:13] related documents or materials in the

[2:15] building. What they did find were signs

[2:17] that materials may have been removed

[2:20] during the 3-week delay in getting

[2:22] access to the building. We have a report

[2:24] narrated by Vera Frankle of Worldwide

[2:26] Television News.

[2:28] The UN inspectors have almost

[2:30] predictably drawn a blank. Nothing

[2:32] relating to Iraq's weapons programs was

[2:34] found inside the Agriculture Ministry.

[2:37] But the inspectors are concerned that

[2:38] some important material might have been

[2:41] spirited out of the building during the

[2:43] 17-day standoff.

[2:45] It's been a difficult time for the head

[2:47] of the UN Commission, Ralph Caes, and

[2:49] his team. Their first attempt to get

[2:52] into the ministry building was

[2:53] frustrated by the Iraqi authorities and

[2:56] stalemate followed.

[2:57] Saddam Hussein relented only after

[2:59] winning concessions from the UN. A new

[3:02] inspection team drawn from what he

[3:04] regarded as neutral countries was

[3:06] finally allowed into the ministry. The

[3:08] Iraqis have done their best to ridicule

[3:10] the inspector's efforts. A television

[3:12] broadcast highlighted their search of

[3:14] unlikely places and also the burgling

[3:16] techniques they used to get past locked

[3:18] doors.

[3:20] Saddam claims to have won the showdown.

[3:22] He was even seen on television taking a

[3:25] symbolic victory dip in the river

[3:27] Tigris. The US today accused Iraq of

[3:30] continuing to defy the UN ceasefire

[3:33] agreement with repeated attacks on its

[3:35] Shiite population. The US is preparing a

[3:38] new UN Security Council resolution

[3:41] demanding Iraq stop the attack. The US

[3:44] ambassador to the UN said the new

[3:46] resolution could come before the council

[3:48] within the week. Meanwhile, Secretary of

[3:50] State Baker met in Washington with Iraqi

[3:53] opposition leaders. The Shiite, Sunni,

[3:56] and Kurdish leaders have appealed for US

[3:58] economic aid to help them in their

[4:00] effort to ou Saddam Hussein.

[4:03] >> The US reportedly will send Patriot

[4:06] anti-aircraft missiles to Bahrain this

[4:08] week. Pentagon officials told the

[4:10] Reuters news agency the missiles will

[4:12] protect moderate Gulf states from

[4:14] possible attack by Iraq. They said Iraq

[4:17] may still have some Scud missiles left

[4:20] over from the Gulf War. The move follows

[4:23] a shipment of Patriots earlier in the

[4:25] week to Kuwait.

[4:27] >> The United Nations had an emergency

[4:29] meeting in Geneva today to deal with the

[4:31] Yuguslav refugee crisis. Officials said

[4:34] up to a half a million refugees could be

[4:36] stranded without food and water this

[4:38] winter. More than 2.5 million people

[4:41] have been displaced by the fighting.

[4:43] We'll have more on the refugee story

[4:44] later in the program. 21 UN trucks with

[4:47] relief supplies arrived in the Bosnian

[4:50] capital today. It was the first major

[4:52] aid convoy to reach Sievo by road. It

[4:55] came from Croatia and was carrying about

[4:58] 170 tons of food. Also today, the first

[5:01] group of about 1,000 Canadian UN

[5:03] peacekeepers pulled out of the city.

[5:05] They will be replaced by Ukrainian and

[5:08] Egyptian UN forces protecting relief

[5:11] flights at the Sieo airport.

[5:13] The Bush administration policy of

[5:16] intercepting Haitian refugees at sea was

[5:19] declared illegal today by a federal

[5:21] appeals court in New York. The court

[5:23] ordered an injunction be granted,

[5:25] preventing the Coast Guard from

[5:27] returning refugees to Haiti without

[5:29] first giving them a hearing on asylum.

[5:32] The administration announced its

[5:33] forcible repatriation policy in May.

[5:36] Some 30,000 Haitians have fled the

[5:39] country since President Jean Bertron

[5:41] Aristid was overthrown last September.

[5:44] >> The Ford Motor Company today reported a

[5:47] $52 million profit for the second

[5:49] quarter of the year, its best earning

[5:51] showing in two years. It had lost more

[5:54] than $300 million during the same period

[5:56] a year ago. Ford Chairman Harold Polling

[6:00] said he remained concerned about the

[6:02] rest of this year because the economy is

[6:04] quote still fragile. Yesterday, Chrysler

[6:07] Corporation also reported a second

[6:09] quarter profit. Former East German

[6:12] leader Eric Hanukkah returned to Germany

[6:14] today to face trial. The 79year-old

[6:17] communist had been in Moscow since he

[6:20] was ousted from office by pro-democracy

[6:22] forces 17 months ago. He is accused of

[6:25] ordering the deaths of hundreds of East

[6:27] Germans trying to flee to the West.

[6:30] Anukah ruled East Germany for 18 years.

[6:33] >> And that's it for the news summary

[6:35] tonight. Now it's on to the BCCI

[6:37] indictments, deadbeat dads, Yuguslav

[6:41] refugees, and an amiwalik essay.

[6:53] First tonight are some prominent

[6:55] indictments in the BCCI banking scandal.

[6:58] BCCI is the Bank of Credit and Commerce

[7:01] International, a 20 billion dollar

[7:03] financial institution that operated in

[7:06] more than 70 countries until last year

[7:09] when regulators around the world shut

[7:11] its doors amid charges of fraud and

[7:14] corruption. In the United States, law

[7:16] officials have focused on BCCI's illegal

[7:19] control of three banks, including First

[7:22] American Bank shares of Washington DC.

[7:25] Monday, one of the key figures in that

[7:28] takeover, a former head of Saudi Arabian

[7:30] intelligence, pleaded guilty to

[7:32] violations of banking laws. Today, two

[7:36] prominent Americans found themselves

[7:38] facing criminal charges for their

[7:40] alleged involvement with BCCI.

[7:44] 85-year-old Clark Clifford is one of the

[7:46] elder statesmen of Washington, an

[7:48] adviser to Democratic presidents from

[7:50] Truman to Carter, Secretary of Defense

[7:53] under Lynden Johnson. He was a power

[7:55] broker with an impeccable reputation

[7:57] until the BCCI scandal. His former law

[8:01] firm specialized in helping corporate

[8:04] clients find their way through the

[8:06] bureaucracy of the federal government.

[8:08] Clifford began representing BCCI in the

[8:11] late 1970s with the help of his young

[8:13] protetéé and fellow attorney Robert

[8:16] Alman. Altman is also well known in

[8:18] Washington social circles for his

[8:20] marriage to actress Linda Carter, star

[8:23] of the 1970s television series Wonder

[8:26] Woman. In 1977, Clifford and Alman

[8:29] represented Jimmy Carter's budget

[8:31] director Bert Lance before the Senate on

[8:34] ethics charges relating to Lance's

[8:36] alleged improprieties at his Georgia

[8:39] bank. Soon after, Lance introduced them

[8:42] to Pakistani banker Aga Hassan Abadi,

[8:46] founder of BCCI, who wanted to penetrate

[8:49] the lucrative American banking industry.

[8:52] Clifford and Alman then began to

[8:54] represent a group of wealthy Arab

[8:56] investors openly backed by BCCI.

[9:00] They were trying to take over a

[9:02] Washington bank company, Financial

[9:04] General Bank Shares. With federal

[9:06] regulators leerary, even then of BCCI's

[9:09] questionable banking practices, the

[9:11] efforts were unsuccessful.

[9:13] Then in 1981, Clifford and Alman went to

[9:17] the Federal Reserve with a new expanded

[9:20] group of Middle Eastern investors who

[9:22] wanted to buy Financial General. Still

[9:25] suspicious, regulators wanted to know if

[9:27] BCCI was behind the plan. Clifford

[9:30] assured them, quote, "I know of no

[9:33] present relationship with BCCI. I know

[9:36] of no future relationship." The deal

[9:39] went through. Clifford became chairman

[9:41] of the newly renamed First American Bank

[9:44] Shares. Altman was named president and

[9:47] their law firm was retained as general

[9:49] counsel to the bank, collecting legal

[9:51] fees of several million dollars. A 1991

[9:55] Federal Reserve report showed that many

[9:57] of the 1981 investors were acting all

[10:01] along as fronts for BCCI.

[10:04] Clifford and Alman answered that they,

[10:06] like everyone else, had been duped. But

[10:09] today, Clifford and Alman were indicted

[10:12] on both federal and state charges for

[10:14] allegedly concealing their knowledge of

[10:17] BCCI's involvement in First American and

[10:20] for enriching themselves through secret

[10:23] loans and other deals in the process.

[10:25] >> At the heart of today's indictment is an

[10:28] alleged conspiracy by Mr. Clifford and

[10:31] Mr. Alman to deceive federal banking

[10:33] regulators. In order to prevent the

[10:36] unraveling of Mr. Clifford and Mr.

[10:38] Alman's banking empire and to protect

[10:41] their millions of dollars in personal

[10:43] sweetheart loan transactions and stock

[10:45] transactions with BCCI.

[10:48] >> The Federal Reserve Board also announced

[10:51] that it was beginning proceedings to

[10:53] decide whether to bar Clifford and

[10:55] Altman from ever again working in

[10:57] American banking.

[10:59] This afternoon, Clifford and Altman

[11:01] pleaded innocent to the New York State

[11:03] charges and issued a written statement.

[11:06] Quote, "The bringing of these

[11:07] indictments is a cruel and unjust abuse

[11:10] of the prosecutorial function. Instead

[11:12] of these charges being based on reliable

[11:14] and credible evidence, they are the

[11:16] result of mean-spirited suspicion and

[11:19] unfounded speculation. The prosecutors

[11:21] have no credible, direct evidence of any

[11:24] wrongdoing by us. There are no smoking

[11:27] guns. We understand the prosecution's

[11:29] case is based entirely on circumstantial

[11:32] evidence. We totally and categorically

[11:35] deny all charges. These cases reflect an

[11:38] intense competition that developed

[11:40] between New York Justice and the Federal

[11:43] Reserve, each seeking public acclaim for

[11:46] their role in fighting BCCI corruption

[11:49] and to deflect criticism for past

[11:51] failings. We became the most visible,

[11:54] convenient targets for government bodies

[11:57] that wish to demonstrate that BCCR

[11:59] wrongdoers will be brought to justice.

[12:01] In the process, however, political

[12:04] considerations and public posturing have

[12:06] overwhelmed the merits of this matter.

[12:09] Disregarding the policies normally

[12:11] applicable to such cases, we are now

[12:13] confronted with multiple prosecutions by

[12:16] three powerful agencies which have

[12:18] enormous resources. We shall fight to

[12:20] establish our innocence and expose the

[12:23] distressing manner in which these

[12:25] agencies have conducted themselves.

[12:27] To respond to that and to lay out

[12:29] today's charges is the man who has led

[12:32] the ongoing investigation of BCCI's

[12:35] activities in New York. He is Manhattan

[12:37] District Attorney Robert Morgensoff. And

[12:40] Mr. Morgensoff, thanks for being with

[12:41] us. In layman's terms, what are the

[12:44] crimes that you are saying that and I'm

[12:46] asking you to put it in simpler terms

[12:49] than you would have today at at the news

[12:51] conferences.

[12:52] What crimes are you saying these six men

[12:54] committed and in particular Mr. Altman

[12:56] and Mr. Well, there they're two separate

[13:00] indictments.

[13:01] uh one involving uh Clifford and

[13:05] Northman uh Nakpi uh Abidi and Foulage

[13:11] and and they are charged with a scheme

[13:13] to defraud

[13:15] uh to defraud regulators

[13:18] u and depositors

[13:21] uh as to the true nature of the

[13:23] ownership and control of First American

[13:27] bank shares. And incidentally, First

[13:29] American Bank has 42 branches uh in New

[13:33] York. You can stand on the steps of the

[13:36] state capital in Albany and look east

[13:38] along Main Street and you'll see two two

[13:41] branches of of First American Bank. Then

[13:43] there is a second

[13:44] >> but the other those names you've

[13:45] mentioned, Mr. Naki and the others are

[13:47] foreign nationals.

[13:48] >> They are

[13:50] >> who were officials of BCCI. Uh no they

[13:53] were well you know Maki and and Abi were

[13:57] uh the third man Mr. Fage was a Kuwaiti

[14:01] businessman who was acting as a nominee

[14:04] we allege for uh for BCCI.

[14:08] Uh there's a second indictment

[14:11] uh which is an enterprise corruption

[14:14] indictment

[14:15] uh charging uh Abodi Naki uh Peron and

[14:22] Fage as being part of a corrupt

[14:24] enterprise

[14:26] uh whose purpose was to to

[14:29] gain money and power throughout the

[14:32] world by by bribing uh central bank

[14:35] officials in in in 10 countries.

[14:38] countries and in Pakistan and and in

[14:40] Sagal and and the Ivory Coast and the

[14:43] Argentine and and uh seven other

[14:46] countries um to get deposits um uh to

[14:51] defraud the International Monetary Fund

[14:53] and and the World Bank and and other

[14:55] banks

[14:56] >> and and again the the additional name in

[14:58] that second indictment is Mr. Ferrron

[15:00] who was a Saudi businessman

[15:02] >> right

[15:02] >> who was not specifically an official of

[15:05] BCCI but

[15:06] >> no he was he was the front man in

[15:10] acquiring the National Bank of Georgia

[15:12] and the Independence Bank and Enino

[15:15] California.

[15:16] >> What is this what is today what did

[15:18] today's indictments represent that go

[15:20] beyond what you and others were saying

[15:23] last year? I noticed that at one point

[15:24] in the in the press uh release, news

[15:27] release that your office put out that

[15:28] you said this is not just a criminal

[15:30] fraud enterprise. It's much more than

[15:32] that. What did you mean by that? Well,

[15:33] what we said was that they it was a

[15:35] corrupt enterprise and and uh and uh

[15:39] comes under the uh a New York statute

[15:42] which covers corrupt enterprises and

[15:44] that what we're saying was not just a

[15:46] scheme to defraud but really a corrupt

[15:49] enterprise from beginning to end in July

[15:53] of 1991. And why is it something that uh

[15:57] average Americans should care about if

[16:00] they weren't didn't happen to be a

[16:01] depositor?

[16:03] >> Well, I think I think for you know for

[16:05] two reasons with one of these American

[16:06] banks

[16:07] >> uh and this is really the reason that

[16:09] that we got involved. Um, the United

[16:13] States government and the states and

[16:15] cities spend literally billions of

[16:18] dollars to try to prevent drugs from

[16:21] coming into this country and then

[16:22] prosecuting drug dealers when they do

[16:25] receive the drugs. I mean, last year in

[16:27] in New York County, we prosecuted 30,000

[16:31] people uh for dealing in drugs and

[16:34] possessing drugs. It's equally important

[16:38] to find out who was transmitting the

[16:40] profits of of of these drug deals. And

[16:43] if you can't cut off that economic

[16:45] benefit, uh you can prosecute the street

[16:49] dealer and until the cows come home. So

[16:52] it was very important uh to to look at

[16:56] who's transmitting this money and and

[16:58] you can't I don't think you can say well

[17:00] it's a foreign bank, it's the bank

[17:01] secrecy, it's too difficult. It also

[17:04] goes to the credibility of government. I

[17:08] mean again

[17:08] >> which is supposed to be regulating these

[17:10] >> which is supposed to be regulating and

[17:11] and also saying you know are you going

[17:14] to go after the big guy as well as the

[17:16] as the small guy. So and and to I think

[17:19] people who deposit their money in a bank

[17:22] want to know who owns that bank and and

[17:24] and they would deprived and defrauded of

[17:27] of that information.

[17:29] >> Let me ask you about just quickly about

[17:30] the points in in Mr. Clifford's uh and

[17:33] and Mr. Altman statement today among

[17:35] other things they say cruel and unjusted

[17:37] abuse of the prosecutorial function.

[17:39] They say you have no reliable or

[17:40] credible evidence. It's a mean and so

[17:43] on.

[17:44] >> They they will have their day in court

[17:46] >> and uh under the American system they

[17:48] can make all of those arguments and if

[17:51] the court and the jury believe them then

[17:53] the charges will be dismissed. Uh if

[17:56] they don't believe them then they'll be

[17:58] convicted. But that I'm not going to

[17:59] answer that uh on a any news media

[18:04] program. That that's a matter that's an

[18:06] argument to be made in court and it will

[18:08] be made and they will get a fair

[18:10] hearing.

[18:10] >> So when they say uh circumstantial

[18:12] evidence uh no direct credible evidence

[18:17] uh unfounded speculation,

[18:19] >> they will have their day in court to to

[18:21] make that argument and if they're

[18:23] correct they will be acquitted. If

[18:25] they're not they'll be convicted.

[18:27] >> What about their other point? One of

[18:28] their other points, this reflects this

[18:29] intense competition they say that was

[18:31] underway between your office, the New

[18:33] York district attorney's office, the the

[18:36] Justice Department and the Federal

[18:37] Reserve.

[18:38] >> That that's an argument for them to make

[18:40] it court. But let let me say this that

[18:41] when uh we've worked very closely with

[18:44] the uh with the Justice Department for

[18:46] the last uh eight or nine months. We've

[18:49] worked very closely with the uh with the

[18:51] Federal Reserve. at at our announcement

[18:54] today was the council of the New York

[18:56] State Federal Reserve Board. Uh key key

[19:00] man in the Department of Justice. Uh my

[19:04] executive assistant was down at the at

[19:05] the Washington announcement. We are

[19:08] working very closely together. I'm sure

[19:10] they hope we're not. Uh but this is a

[19:13] cooperative venture and uh we all all of

[19:16] us in government are being paid to serve

[19:18] the people and we're going to do the

[19:19] best job we can. Earlier on though, was

[19:21] there not criticism of the Federal

[19:23] Reserve, the Justice Department for not

[19:25] moving quickly enough on?

[19:27] >> Well, my memory only lasts about nine

[19:30] months and I can tell you for the last

[19:33] nine months, we've been working very

[19:34] closely together.

[19:35] >> Was there any effort uh by either the

[19:39] attorneys for Mr. Clifford or Mr. Alman?

[19:42] Any discussion of any sort of uh

[19:44] bargaining arrangement to work out a

[19:46] plea on their part? uh on on either

[19:49] either what the charges would be or what

[19:51] they would plead.

[19:52] >> Uh when lawyers come in and talk on

[19:55] behalf of their clients, I I don't think

[19:58] that should be discussed unless it's

[20:00] made an open court. But I but I can tell

[20:02] you that uh uh we must have had a half a

[20:05] dozen meetings with uh with lawyers for

[20:08] for Mrs. Clif and Norman and they had a

[20:11] a fair hearing. I'd like to just mention

[20:13] that also, you know, we we announced

[20:17] today that that one of the key figures

[20:20] in in the takeover first American uh

[20:23] Shake Camel Adam has pled guilty is

[20:27] paying $105 million fine.

[20:31] But even more important, he's agreed to

[20:33] fully cooperate uh uh with us and and

[20:37] with the Justice Department, agree to

[20:39] testify in the grand jury and at trial

[20:40] if if required. Is that pivotal to this

[20:42] case?

[20:43] >> Uh, it's important. I mean, this is a

[20:45] this is an extremely important

[20:47] development. He's somebody that we could

[20:50] not have extradited from Saudi Arabia,

[20:53] very prominent man, Saudi Arabia, and

[20:55] the fact that he came forward, pled

[20:57] guilty, entered into agreement to to

[21:00] testify is an extremely important

[21:02] development.

[21:03] >> Robert Morganthaw, we thank you for

[21:04] being with us.

[21:05] >> Thank you for asking me,

[21:06] >> Jim. Now, the views of two reporters who

[21:09] have been covering the BCCI scandal.

[21:11] Douglas France of the Los Angeles Times,

[21:14] co-author of the book A Full Service

[21:16] Bank: How BCCI Stole Billions Around the

[21:19] World, and Alan Freriedman of the

[21:21] Financial Times. Mr. France, first,

[21:23] there were also some federal indictments

[21:25] today in addition to the ones that uh

[21:27] were made in New York. In simple terms,

[21:29] what do they allege?

[21:30] >> They're fairly similar to the New York

[21:32] State indictments. They alleged simply

[21:33] that Clifford and Altman concealed

[21:36] BCCI's ownership and control of First

[21:39] American Bank when they lied to Federal

[21:42] the Federal Reserve Board in 1981 at the

[21:44] initial hearing and at various points

[21:46] beyond there. And they also allege in

[21:48] the federal indictment that Clifford and

[21:50] Alman concealed lucrative side ben side

[21:54] financial deals that they struck with

[21:56] BCCI. They allege in the federal

[21:58] indictment that they concealed those

[21:59] arrangements, particularly a $10 million

[22:02] stock deal in order to avoid attracting

[22:04] federal regulatory attention that might

[22:06] have brought down the curtain on this

[22:07] scheme earlier.

[22:08] >> The term that the assistant attorney

[22:10] general used was sweetheart deals. What

[22:12] is he talking about? Well, I think

[22:13] primarily he's talking about a 1986

[22:16] stock transaction in which Clifford and

[22:19] Altman were permitted to buy $18 million

[22:23] worth of stock in the parent company of

[22:25] First American. To buy that, they used

[22:28] an $18 million BCCI loan in which there

[22:32] were they put up no collateral. They put

[22:34] up no money of their own. BCCI took all

[22:37] the risk and Clifford and Alman took

[22:39] none. 18 months later, they sold the

[22:41] bulk of that stock and pocketed a $10

[22:43] million profit. Now, that's a

[22:45] transaction in which they they had no

[22:47] financial risk of their own. You know, I

[22:50] talked with a lawyer yesterday about

[22:51] that transaction and he said, "My

[22:54] clients pay me. They don't pay me off."

[22:56] That's a transaction that looks more

[22:57] like a payoff than a legal fee.

[22:59] >> And so, the but there's never been any

[23:01] question about that having taken place.

[23:03] The only question now is whether or not

[23:05] it's legal or not. Right. There's also a

[23:06] question in the Federal indictment about

[23:09] whether Cliff Clifford and Altman told

[23:12] the Federal Reserve board about that.

[23:13] The Federal Reserve and the indictment

[23:15] allege that they concealed that

[23:18] transaction as well from the Federal

[23:19] Reserve to avoid attracting attention to

[23:21] what was going on at BCCI and First

[23:23] American.

[23:23] >> Okay. And that's a separate offense from

[23:25] having actually having done it.

[23:27] >> Yes, it is. I say all right, Alan

[23:29] Freriedman, let's go into the some of

[23:30] the as as as Judy said, um Mr. Alman and

[23:34] Mr. Clifford uh have not made a

[23:36] statement or not not spoken today uh in

[23:39] person, but they've they've issued this

[23:41] written statement and they they they're

[23:43] supposed to have a news conference in

[23:44] the morning. But what about this idea of

[23:46] the intense competition that they

[23:48] alleged that existed between the Justice

[23:50] Department and uh and the New York

[23:52] people as well as the Federal Reserve?

[23:54] Is there anything to that from your

[23:55] perspective? You've been on this story

[23:57] from almost the very beginning.

[23:58] >> Yeah, I' I've covered this story and um

[24:00] I don't think I've perceived competition

[24:03] as such. I think I've always perceived

[24:05] the Federal Reserve doing an excellent

[24:06] job. I've certainly perceived Mr.

[24:08] Morganthau's office being miles ahead of

[24:11] anyone else in the world on this case.

[24:13] And I have to be honest and say that one

[24:15] year ago, the Justice Department was

[24:17] accused by Mr. Morgantown by others and

[24:20] I think rightly so of dragging its feet.

[24:22] Uh the New York District Attorney was

[24:24] way ahead of the indictments brought a

[24:27] year ago today the first massive fraud

[24:28] indictments. The attorney general

[24:31] Thornberg and now Mr. bar have come

[24:32] under enormous criticism. Mr. Morganthaw

[24:35] was very diplomatic before and he said

[24:36] his memory only goes back 9 months. The

[24:38] truth is the Bush administration has

[24:40] come under a lot of criticism for not

[24:42] prosecuting. There have been questions

[24:43] raised about whether this had to do with

[24:45] former CIA connections with BCCI or

[24:48] what. It's not clear. The point is there

[24:50] has not been competition. There's been

[24:51] problems.

[24:52] >> Yeah. Uh Mr. France, the uh is what

[24:55] about the idea that what Mr. Morgan Doll

[24:58] said that at least from the last nine

[24:59] months there has been superb

[25:01] cooperation. Does your reporting bear

[25:03] that out?

[25:04] >> Oh, sure it does. It bears out the

[25:05] earlier problems that Allan mentioned.

[25:07] And when Bill Barr became attorney

[25:09] general, he responded to the criticisms

[25:12] by moving this up to the front burner.

[25:14] He put Bob Mueller, the head of his

[25:15] criminal division, in charge of it. And

[25:17] they finally got after the BCCI case the

[25:20] way they well could have in October of

[25:22] 1988 when the first federal indictments

[25:24] against BCCI were brought down in Tampa.

[25:26] All right. All right. Let's talk about

[25:28] the evidence here. Both of you, as I

[25:29] say, have followed this case. Alan

[25:31] Freriedman, uh, is there a smoking gun

[25:34] here? Or if there's not a smoking gun,

[25:36] what is it based on your knowledge that

[25:38] the government, the federal government,

[25:40] the state government, the Federal

[25:41] Reserve have in a general way to back up

[25:43] these very serious charges against these

[25:46] people? Well, I think I think my

[25:48] understanding is that both the New York

[25:50] District Attorney and the federal

[25:51] government are in possession of a series

[25:53] of statements and filings made by Mess

[25:55] Clifford and Alman on behalf of First

[25:57] American and on behalf of their clients

[25:59] to the bank regulators. So that's on the

[26:01] record. We know that Mr. Clifford

[26:03] repeatedly said there was no BCCI

[26:05] involvement. But they're also and and

[26:08] >> excuse me. Now the reason that is

[26:10] important because if he made a certain

[26:12] statement then what they have to do is

[26:14] prove that he knew otherwise when he

[26:16] made that statement and that statement

[26:18] was false when he made it. Correct.

[26:19] >> Exactly. Okay. But also we're looking at

[26:21] a strange what what they call a triple

[26:23] role that Clifford Alman filled.

[26:25] Clifford and Alman were at the same time

[26:28] the people who were brought in by Bert

[26:29] Lance to originally help take over this

[26:31] bank in Washington. They served as

[26:34] lawyers to BCCI. They served as lawyers

[26:36] to First American. They served as

[26:38] chairman and and president of First

[26:39] American. They had a whole milange of of

[26:42] roles that seem to conflict at times.

[26:44] And it's very hard for the average man

[26:46] on the street to imagine them not

[26:47] knowing this. But furthermore, their

[26:49] documents which I've seen and which the

[26:51] Senate has released and maybe they're in

[26:53] the uh in the evidence that Mr. Morgan

[26:54] thou has, I don't know, that clearly

[26:56] show Mr. open at least being privy to a

[27:00] series of BCCI meetings around the world

[27:02] in Vienna and elsewhere where they're

[27:04] talking about First American as part of

[27:06] our family. There you have Mr. Alman

[27:08] sitting together with Mr. Abbott and

[27:10] these BCCI people uh supposedly not

[27:12] knowing anything about their ownership

[27:14] of the American Bank and instead they're

[27:16] planning how to hire a vice president.

[27:17] They're they're getting into a lot of

[27:19] detail that may be circumstantial but

[27:20] it's certainly interesting.

[27:22] >> Well, anything to add or subtract from

[27:24] that? I think if there's not a smoking

[27:25] gun, there may now be a smoking chic. We

[27:28] have KL Adam, the former head of Saudi

[27:31] intelligence, who's now agreed to plead

[27:33] guilty and cooperated. That's very

[27:35] important. Documents are difficult for

[27:38] juries to understand. Documents, even

[27:40] signed papers, can be disputed by

[27:43] defense attorneys. But if you've got

[27:45] Kladam sitting there talking about a

[27:47] decade's worth of meetings with Clark

[27:50] Clifford, Robert Altman, Aahassan Abidi,

[27:52] and the rest of the crew, I think you've

[27:54] got a very potentially important and

[27:56] potent witness.

[27:57] >> And that doesn't that immediately take

[28:00] it out of this complicated situation

[28:02] that we that the average person, oh my

[28:04] goodness, I'll never understand that.

[28:05] But they can understand that.

[28:07] >> Oh, I think so. I mean, I I don't view

[28:08] this story as as quite so complicated. I

[28:11] mean, I think this is a story of Clark

[28:14] Clifford acting as a front for a foreign

[28:18] bank that had been refused permission to

[28:20] buy banks in the United States because

[28:23] they were shrouded in rumor and mystery

[28:25] because we didn't know anything about

[28:27] their money because they weren't

[28:28] regulated. They were refused permission.

[28:30] They hired Clark Clifford. He became

[28:32] their front. He said everything's okay.

[28:35] And so they secretly were allowed to

[28:37] come in here and buy three US banks and

[28:40] a big chunk of a savings and loan down

[28:42] in Florida. But the issue of course as

[28:44] you said Alan Freriedman is that Mr.

[28:46] Clifford and Mr. Alman have said in

[28:47] testimony before the Senate of the

[28:49] United States and elsewhere that they

[28:51] were duped that they did not know what

[28:53] was going on that these awful people who

[28:55] ran BCCI had them just like they had

[28:57] other people. And that's what this whole

[28:59] case is going to revolve around is it

[29:00] not?

[29:00] >> Yeah. I mean Mr. Clifford and Mr. Alman

[29:02] have made several appearances in

[29:03] Congress. There's been a great deal of

[29:05] showmanship. Um they brought Linda

[29:07] Wonderwoman Carter in there, a lot of

[29:09] photographers, a lot of television, and

[29:10] they've said, "Mr. Clifford's basic

[29:12] argument is he holds his hand up and he

[29:14] says, "Trust me. My conscience is clear.

[29:16] I've advised every president since Harry

[29:18] Truman. Trust me. That may not be good

[29:20] enough in court." I'd like to just

[29:22] quickly come back to that other point

[29:23] about Shake Adam. Doug is right. Very

[29:26] important. If that shake testifies

[29:28] against Clark Clifford and Robert Alman

[29:30] as I think he may well because he is

[29:33] cooperating with the prosecutors that's

[29:35] very compelling stuff and this is a very

[29:37] influential Saudi uh shake very

[29:40] important development that

[29:41] >> and very high up Mr. France in this

[29:44] whole operation. In other words, what he

[29:45] he's not he wasn't a peripheral

[29:47] character. Is that correct?

[29:48] >> He was one of the initial investors in

[29:50] BCCI and he was one of the initial and

[29:53] largest investors in First American in

[29:56] that group that took it over in 1981.

[29:58] Adam has been there from the start and

[30:00] Adam is a very curious character because

[30:02] as as we mentioned earlier, he was the

[30:04] former head of Saudi intelligence. He

[30:06] had very strong ties to the US Central

[30:08] Intelligence Agency. And as you look

[30:11] beyond sort of the the headlines on this

[30:14] scandal, I think we may through his

[30:16] participation learn a little bit more

[30:18] about the CIA's involvement in this bank

[30:20] as well.

[30:20] >> But the allegation about the CIA, which

[30:23] the CIA is denied, is for the record is

[30:26] that that they were just may have been

[30:29] one of its customers, not that they were

[30:31] manipulating anything. Is that not

[30:32] correct? In other words, they used the

[30:33] BCCI maybe to transfer money around.

[30:36] >> That's what they've said. I I think they

[30:38] they they use the they use the BCCI for

[30:41] other means also. One of the things they

[30:43] use it for is is as as a window on

[30:45] certain terrorist operations around the

[30:47] world. They watched Abu Nadal and his

[30:50] organization through the London offices

[30:52] of BCCI and I think there may still be

[30:54] some more to come out about

[30:55] >> but is that necessarily an evil thing is

[30:58] what I'm

[30:58] >> No, I don't I'm not necessarily I I'm

[31:00] not I don't believe the CIA was

[31:02] manipulating or running DCCI.

[31:04] >> Yeah. Yeah. You have anything to add to

[31:06] that, Alan Freriedman? Well, I I would

[31:07] only point out that the um the CIA used

[31:10] BCI for legitimate operations, but we

[31:12] also have found a lot of evidence that

[31:15] um that BCCI was used in illegal

[31:17] operations like Iran Contra and I agree

[31:19] with Doug a lot more is going to come

[31:20] out in future on that.

[31:22] >> And that's my final question in a word

[31:24] Alan Freriedman is everything going to

[31:26] come out is the thing now in motion now

[31:28] we going to know what happened and what

[31:29] did not happen on BCCI?

[31:31] >> I think it's going to take years and

[31:33] years before anything uh before we get

[31:35] near threearters of the story. Mr.

[31:37] Morgan thou said this morning, "We're at

[31:38] 50% of the story. I think we still need

[31:41] to understand relations with the CIA. We

[31:43] still need to understand relations with

[31:44] American politicians. There's a lot more

[31:47] to come. The BCCI story is by no means

[31:49] over."

[31:49] >> You agree?

[31:50] >> I do agree. But this was one of the most

[31:52] important developments along the way,

[31:54] the indictment of Clifford and Alman.

[31:55] >> All right, gentlemen. Thank you both

[31:56] very much.

[31:57] >> Thank you.

[31:57] >> Thank you.

[31:58] Still ahead on the NewsHour, getting

[32:00] fathers to support their children,

[32:02] Europe's new refugee crisis, and an

[32:05] amiiwalik essay.

[32:16] Child support is next tonight. The

[32:18] Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings

[32:20] on a bill today to prevent so-called

[32:22] deadbeat dads from crossing state lines

[32:25] to avoid paying child support. It's a

[32:28] subject that has received growing

[32:29] attention recently. Correspondent

[32:31] Elizabeth Brackett has our report.

[32:34] >> Yeah. Ross King, please.

[32:36] >> This is Ross King.

[32:37] >> Hello.

[32:38] >> Hello.

[32:38] >> Yeah. Is this Ross?

[32:39] >> Yeah.

[32:39] >> Yeah. Ross, this is Mr. Burton. I'm

[32:41] calling you from International Tours.

[32:42] How you doing?

[32:43] >> Hi.

[32:43] >> Ross King was happy to hear he had won a

[32:46] big prize.

[32:46] >> It's 15 days roundtrip airfare for two

[32:50] and it's uh $1,500 in cash dispenser.

[32:54] No gimmicks. Everything's free.

[32:59] But when Ross King answered his door to

[33:01] accept the money, he was in for a big

[33:04] surprise.

[33:07] >> Mr. Ross King.

[33:08] >> Yes.

[33:08] >> How you doing? Ross King Jr., please to

[33:10] meet the George County Sheriff's

[33:12] Department.

[33:14] >> In Baltimore, the sheriff's department

[33:16] has gotten serious about enforcing

[33:18] warrants for parents who are behind in

[33:21] child support payments. This scam was

[33:24] part of a 4-day sweep that targeted 100

[33:27] violators and picked up 96.

[33:30] Ross King, who owed $6,000 going back to

[33:34] 1988, was one of them.

[33:36] >> Ross, man, how come you ain't paying

[33:37] child?

[33:38] >> I pay. I pay. I pay.

[33:40] >> Yeah, but you still owe a lot of money.

[33:41] You know, you owe money in the rears.

[33:43] Why aren't you taking care of your kids,

[33:44] man?

[33:46] Baltimore also conducts early morning

[33:48] raids that bring in parents who have

[33:50] fallen far behind in their payments.

[33:54] The city's intensified pursuit reflects

[33:56] the growing effort across the country to

[33:59] enforce child support orders.

[34:01] >> We just want to make sure that he takes

[34:03] gets taken care of and there's no

[34:06] hassles between us so that it doesn't

[34:08] reflect on him.

[34:12] Everything is settled as of today.

[34:16] >> Yes, your honor.

[34:17] >> Here in Colorado, collections doubled

[34:20] between 1987 and 1991. And Colorado and

[34:23] Maryland are not unusual. Nationwide,

[34:26] collections handled by government

[34:27] agencies were up 75%.

[34:31] Even though the number of cases handled

[34:32] by those agencies only increased by 26%.

[34:37] John Burnernhard directs the child

[34:38] support office in Denver. We have a

[34:41] marvelous number of tools at the present

[34:42] time. We can attach people's wages. Uh

[34:45] we can intercept their uh lottery

[34:47] winnings. We can intercept their

[34:48] unemployment winning or unemployment

[34:50] earnings. Uh intercept uh their tax

[34:53] returns. Uh there are variety of

[34:55] remedies. But if somebody truly doesn't

[34:57] want to pay support, they can make it

[34:58] awfully difficult to collect that

[35:00] support.

[35:01] >> So the problem remains enormous. 1990

[35:04] census figures estimate that only half

[35:06] of the 5 million parents supposed to be

[35:09] receiving child support are actually

[35:11] paid in full and one quarter receive

[35:15] nothing at all. For these custodial

[35:17] parents, the majority of whom are women,

[35:20] the system is not working. Joanne Foss

[35:23] is one of them. A year ago, she and her

[35:25] twin sons moved from Minnesota to

[35:27] Colorado and her ex-husband's payments

[35:30] came to a virtual halt. It was almost a

[35:32] manageable amount when we moved here,

[35:35] but since we've moved here, it has just

[35:37] gotten increasingly

[35:40] more and more and more and and less

[35:43] manageable. And we're up to

[35:44] approximately $4,000 right now in a

[35:48] rears, most of which has occurred in the

[35:51] last 6 to seven months.

[35:54] >> This is Joanne. Foss works full-time for

[35:57] a marketing company, but she sorely

[35:59] misses the $416 monthly payment.

[36:03] >> What my paycheck covers is uh the rent,

[36:06] the food, the lights, the basics. There

[36:09] are there is absolutely nothing that

[36:11] that we could afford over and above that

[36:16] if it weren't for my family. So, it

[36:19] isn't a question of um are we paying for

[36:22] um you know this second set of

[36:24] rollerblades or uh a trip to Disneyland.

[36:27] We're talking about we're talking about

[36:29] things like shoes for school, pants, um

[36:32] field trips that school sponsors that

[36:34] you need to send along another $10 or $2

[36:37] or a picture of such and such and so and

[36:40] so. Those are the things that they miss.

[36:42] Frustrated, boss finally asked

[36:44] Colorado's child support office to

[36:46] contact Minnesota.

[36:48] She wanted her ex-husband's employer to

[36:51] begin withholding support payments from

[36:53] his salary. But the case worker warned

[36:56] her there would be no fast solution. She

[36:59] looked me right in the face and said,

[37:00] "Do not expect anything in 30 days

[37:02] because it will not happen. I can

[37:04] guarantee you that. They have 90 days to

[37:07] reply. State to state 90 days. Then if I

[37:11] don't receive anything from the state of

[37:13] Minnesota, we take it to a state level

[37:17] through the state or through the

[37:18] Jefferson County, Colorado, they have 30

[37:21] days. If there is no response from

[37:24] Minnesota, we go back and take it to a

[37:26] federal level and then it's another 30

[37:29] days that they have. What happens after

[37:32] that? I have no idea. I didn't even dare

[37:33] ask. At that point, Foss fears her

[37:36] ex-husband would challenge her claim in

[37:38] court or quit his job. Either move would

[37:42] likely mean a delay in receiving money.

[37:45] >> Still two cases are closed and I'm only

[37:48] seeing the two

[37:49] >> troublesome interstate cases like fosses

[37:52] are believed to be significantly

[37:54] increasing in number. One reason is that

[37:56] some non-paying parents move across

[37:59] state lines to make it harder for

[38:00] authorities to track them down.

[38:03] Also, some states have more liberal laws

[38:05] than others. In Rhode Island, a parent

[38:08] may be required to provide support until

[38:10] his child's 21st birthday. But in

[38:13] neighboring Connecticut, the maximum age

[38:15] is 18. So, to help states deal with a

[38:18] nationwide problem, Congress established

[38:21] the Commission on Interstate Child

[38:23] Support. Margaret Campbell Haynes is its

[38:26] chairwoman. About 30% of all child

[38:29] support cases in this country are

[38:30] interstate. But the enforcement is out

[38:33] of proportion to that because only $1 of

[38:36] every $10 collected is in an interstate

[38:39] case. In fact, there are about 34% of

[38:43] these interstate cases where you don't

[38:45] collect even a dime. The commission

[38:47] spent two years studying the problem and

[38:49] looking for solutions promoting

[38:51] uniformity and cooperation among the

[38:53] states. This deplorable ineffectiveness

[38:56] on the parts of the three different

[38:57] states and very lengthy delays in

[39:00] getting the support to my children has

[39:02] had serious repercussions on the

[39:04] children.

[39:04] >> Next week it will issue a voluminous

[39:07] report making several recommendations.

[39:10] >> One of them is to make non-sup support a

[39:13] criminal offense in certain

[39:14] circumstances.

[39:16] >> There are a number of cases that I call

[39:18] hardcore cases. cases where the person

[39:21] has the ability to pay child support and

[39:23] just does not pay particularly your

[39:26] self-employed cases and we need a

[39:30] criminal non-support statute to give it

[39:33] an extra tool to enforce the case. Um I

[39:36] think we also have to emphasize the

[39:38] symbol symb symbolic importance.

[39:41] I criminal laws are statements by

[39:43] society about what we will not tolerate

[39:47] and certainly non-payment of child

[39:49] support should be one of those offenses.

[39:53] The commission also endorses a program

[39:55] being pioneered in Washington state that

[39:57] targets non-payers in jobs such as

[40:00] construction.

[40:03] Companies in high turnover businesses

[40:05] forward their W4 wage withholding

[40:07] statements directly to the state's child

[40:10] support enforcement office. A computer

[40:12] matches social security information with

[40:15] a list of delinquent payers and

[40:17] immediately alerts the employer to make

[40:19] a deduction from the employee.

[40:22] That system worked with Kent Patterson.

[40:25] >> He took half of all of that all them

[40:28] days. And there was one I went out on,

[40:31] they didn't take any. One, they took

[40:33] half. Uh next one they took less than

[40:37] half.

[40:39] >> People such as Kent Patterson, a cement

[40:41] mason who moves from job to job, used to

[40:44] be hard to track. That's because they

[40:46] had often moved on to their next jobs

[40:49] long before the state's computers caught

[40:50] up with them.

[40:52] But if their employers are part of the

[40:53] program, and most builders are, their

[40:56] wages can be automatically deducted as

[40:59] soon as the first week on the job.

[41:02] Members of Congress continue to propose

[41:04] new enforcement laws. One proposal would

[41:06] make the Internal Revenue Service the

[41:08] central collection agency for child

[41:10] support. The IRS would manage a national

[41:13] registry of child support orders and

[41:16] oversee all income withholding. The

[41:19] legislation would also require parents

[41:20] who couldn't afford to pay their child

[41:22] support to take public service jobs. The

[41:26] prospect of tougher laws provokes an

[41:28] angry response from non-custodial

[41:30] parents, most of whom are fathers.

[41:33] >> This new bill that's coming out across

[41:34] the nation that's supposed to make it a

[41:36] felony to cross state lines if you're

[41:38] more than 6 months behind. It's not

[41:41] going to help out the kids. It may put a

[41:43] few of their fathers in jail. And you

[41:44] have to look at what message that's

[41:45] sending the kids. Bruce Mau is a

[41:47] divorced father of two who has become

[41:50] active in the father's rights movement.

[41:52] >> The kids need to have a positive role

[41:55] model for both a mother and a father.

[41:57] They need both a male and female role

[41:58] model. And they both need to be seen in

[42:00] a positive light. And if the father's

[42:03] going to jail and and told that he's not

[42:07] paying, you know, his child support and

[42:08] whatever else, and he's not allowed to

[42:11] see his killed children, and they're

[42:12] being told that it's because he's

[42:13] abandoned them when it isn't necessarily

[42:15] the case, that's devastating.

[42:18] >> Mau was divorced from his wife three

[42:20] years ago. Now he visits his son and

[42:22] daughter in a nearby Denver suburb twice

[42:24] a week. He spent a night in jail when

[42:27] one of his support payments was late in

[42:29] the mail.

[42:30] >> Let me tie this real quick. Ber believes

[42:32] many fathers fall behind because they

[42:35] have so little control over how the

[42:37] money is being spent and so little time

[42:40] with their children.

[42:41] >> So number one, equal access to the

[42:44] children and if you have equal access to

[42:47] the children, then you have equal

[42:48] expenses between the parents as far as

[42:49] child support.

[42:51] >> Many fathers such as Mau feel the system

[42:53] has treated them unfairly.

[42:56] But nationwide, the problem is much more

[42:58] likely to be defined as fathers failing

[43:01] to pay and the resulting impact on the

[43:03] children.

[43:04] >> You're as likely to be parted

[43:07] by divorce from your partner as you are

[43:10] by death. 50% of our cases end in

[43:13] divorce. So we're no longer in child

[43:16] support cases only talking about the

[43:18] welfare cases.

[43:20] >> We're talking about your next door

[43:22] neighbor, your friend, your sister. And

[43:25] I think as people realize that the child

[43:28] support problem is going to affect them

[43:30] personally, they're much more likely to

[43:32] see it as a a problem that our country

[43:35] needs to give priority to.

[43:37] >> And the country has begun to pay more

[43:39] attention.

[43:40] >> The release of the Interstate

[43:41] Commission's report will undoubtedly be

[43:44] followed by more new federal legislation

[43:47] later this year.

[43:57] Now, a further report on the tragedy of

[43:59] the refugees from Yugoslavia. There are

[44:01] now 2 million of them scattered from

[44:03] their homes and villages by a year of

[44:06] civil war in the republics that used to

[44:08] make up their country. Today, the United

[44:11] Nations Commission on Refugees,

[44:13] including representatives from Europe

[44:15] and the United States, held an emergency

[44:17] meeting in Geneva. Nick Gowing of

[44:19] Independent Television News reports.

[44:24] >> Two million people on the move. The

[44:26] other casualties of war, homeless,

[44:29] dispossessed, condemned to a life with

[44:31] no future, no certainty, no jobs, no

[44:34] money, often with none of their men

[44:36] folk. All of them driven to flee their

[44:38] homes by war. They would love to go

[44:40] home, of course. They cannot. The gunman

[44:43] will not let them.

[44:46] More than two million people seeking

[44:48] sanctuary now, like these Bosnians in

[44:50] Hungary. By autumn, it's expected there

[44:52] will be three million. Europe's worst

[44:54] humanitarian catastrophe since World War

[44:56] II, spiraling at a rate of 10,000 new

[44:59] refugees a day. All of them are fleeing

[45:02] to escape the war. They will go anywhere

[45:04] that will accept them. They keep

[45:06] traveling until they find a sanctuary.

[45:08] But sanctuaries are hard to find and the

[45:10] international community is desperately

[45:12] and belatedly hunting solutions to cope

[45:15] with a human disaster on an

[45:17] unprecedented scale which will not be

[45:19] solved even when eventually the fighting

[45:21] does end.

[45:24] The United Nations High Commission for

[45:26] Refugees in Geneva is overwhelmed and

[45:28] underfunded to tackle an unfolding

[45:30] disaster predicted officially now to

[45:32] cost an enormous amount of money. which

[45:35] is why it summoned ministers from 31

[45:37] nations to an emergency conference

[45:40] designed to coordinate action and pledge

[45:42] new money. An

[45:43] >> assertiated plan of action to help the

[45:45] poor people in the former Yugoslavia.

[45:47] >> By their nature, however, there can only

[45:49] be makeshift solutions for a refugee

[45:51] crisis which because of its magnitude

[45:53] now, everyone agrees will only be solved

[45:55] by a political solution which ends the

[45:58] fighting because without agreement to

[46:00] stop the war, the alternative is

[46:02] terrifying. I'm afraid time is running

[46:05] out. For weeks and months, for too long,

[46:09] people have been attacked and forcibly

[46:12] driven for their homes. It is time and

[46:15] probably the last call for the world to

[46:18] launch a humanitarian counter offensive.

[46:21] >> Within the former Yugoslavia, latest UN

[46:24] estimates show more than 680,000

[46:26] refugees inside Bosnia. Croatia, which

[46:29] says it can't take anymore, has another

[46:31] 600,000. Serbia has 380,000 homeless

[46:34] Serbs from Bosnia and Croatia, but

[46:37] pressure has spread well beyond the

[46:38] former Yugoslav borders. Austria and

[46:41] Hungary have now taken at least 50,000

[46:44] people each and 44,000 have reached

[46:47] Sweden. Germany has taken at least

[46:49] 200,000. Bon wants other EC countries to

[46:52] match its effort.

[46:55] The German operation at camps like this

[46:57] one near Dusseldorf has been generous.

[47:00] Until today, German policy has been at

[47:02] odds with much of the rest of Europe

[47:04] over refugees.

[47:06] >> Countries like France and Great Britain

[47:09] and then the Scandinavian countries

[47:11] should also accept refugees.

[47:14] >> The UN disagrees with the German belief

[47:16] in quotas because it discriminates

[47:18] against future refugees by setting

[47:20] limits. It also disagrees with the

[47:22] principle of transporting refugees such

[47:25] large distances.

[47:27] So it is to solutions like this former

[47:30] police barracks in Belgrade, a new camp

[47:32] that the UN and countries like Britain

[47:34] are looking. Refugees being accommodated

[47:36] with international assistance as close

[47:39] as war allows to the location from which

[47:41] they fled.

[47:43] >> It really does make sense to avoid the

[47:45] trauma, to avoid taking people away from

[47:50] the places they know, their families and

[47:52] friends, when you can actually help them

[47:54] there. In fact, you can help a thousand

[47:56] times more people on the ground in the

[47:58] former Yugoslavia than you could by

[48:00] taking them thousands of miles away.

[48:02] >> But the dangers of such a policy are

[48:05] stark. These recent pictures are rare

[48:07] evidence of a Bosnian refugee camp which

[48:09] was thought to be in a safe area, which

[48:11] then became a target for shelling by

[48:13] Serbian heavy guns. Continuing proof of

[48:15] Serbia's mass ethnic cleansing policy,

[48:18] which using one recent example, the UN

[48:21] High Commission for Refugees confirmed

[48:23] was still taking place.

[48:25] >> The mayor was ask organized a convoy of

[48:29] buses and cars to expel 4,000 Muslim

[48:33] inhabitants of the town. On July 16th,

[48:37] the expulsion was done with great

[48:40] bureaucratic and legalistic zeal. The

[48:43] persons given documents to show that

[48:45] they had given away their properties as

[48:48] gifts and were leaving voluntarily.

[48:52] The UN admits it is powerless to stop

[48:55] such ethnic cleansing, but reports

[48:57] continue to flow in each day of a

[48:59] process the leader of Bosnia's Serbs

[49:01] still denies is taking place.

[49:04] >> The major problem behind the refugee

[49:06] crisis is what is alleged to be the

[49:08] ethnic cleansing. Are you saying there

[49:10] is no ethnic cleansing? No ethnic

[49:12] cleansing. We just allow people to leave

[49:15] the battlefield if they want.

[49:16] >> But the people are being driven out.

[49:18] There is clear evidence of that.

[49:19] >> No, no evidence that they are we we have

[49:22] unassigned papers undersigned by those

[49:24] people who live certain area that they

[49:27] did it deliberately and no ethnic

[49:29] cleansing since we are committed to make

[49:33] possibility for the refugees to return.

[49:35] But what kind of guarantees can you give

[49:37] certainly for the Bosnians, the Muslims

[49:39] and the Croatians who are being pushed

[49:41] out for whatever reason that they could

[49:43] return home in security.

[49:46] >> We give full guarantees according to

[49:48] Geneva Convention for civilians

[49:51] for civilians. But those civilians

[49:54] are not civilians any longer after they

[49:57] take gun and start to fight against

[49:59] Serbian people. That's the problem. And

[50:02] we don't trust each other. It is that

[50:05] complete absence of trust and the terror

[50:07] it generates which will prolong the

[50:08] misery, create everinccreasing numbers

[50:11] of refugees, and thereby continue to set

[50:13] a major challenge for an international

[50:15] community still struggling in its

[50:17] efforts to end the crisis in the former

[50:19] Yugoslavia.

[50:29] Finally tonight, Amay Wallock, art

[50:31] critic for New York Day, has some

[50:33] thoughts about a 20th century giant,

[50:36] Pablo Picasso. Barcelona's favorite son,

[50:39] the artist Pablo Picasso, once said that

[50:42] he wanted to tell stories with the most

[50:44] humble everyday means at hand. And those

[50:47] stories should be as symbolic and

[50:50] profound, he said, as Christ's use of

[50:53] parable. Picasso's parables in painting

[50:56] and sculpture are called stills. But

[50:58] there's nothing in the least bit still

[51:00] about these pictures and playing cards,

[51:04] these guitars

[51:06] and fish and newspaper clippings.

[51:11] They spin visual fables for our times.

[51:15] The Cleveland Museum's international

[51:17] traveling exhibition of Picasso still

[51:19] lives, which is currently at the

[51:20] Philadelphia Museum, is called Picasso

[51:23] and Things. Nearly 20 years after his

[51:26] death, as much as 90 years since the

[51:28] first of them was painted, Picasso's

[51:31] eloquent things add up to a panoramic

[51:34] take on one man's tumultuous life, a

[51:37] tale for our traumatic century.

[51:41] This particular man was a packrat.

[51:44] Picasso surrounded himself with a

[51:46] clutter of things. Nothing of particular

[51:48] value unless it was some painting by an

[51:50] artist he admired. The point was never

[51:54] to collect what already had value, but

[51:56] rather to give value to the ordinary,

[52:00] the throwaway that everyone else had

[52:02] overlooked by transforming it by making

[52:06] it a character in his story.

[52:09] It took him a while to get the hang of

[52:11] it. His first still life painted when he

[52:14] was 20 years old and the century was

[52:16] just beginning in 1901 is just another

[52:19] pretty picture of a pretty good meal.

[52:22] But once Picasso had figured out how to

[52:24] make a red flower alone and out of place

[52:27] in a glass portray the adolescent pathos

[52:31] of his blue period, the still lives

[52:33] became allegorories of life and love,

[52:38] war, aging and death.

[52:41] When he was 26, Picasso and his friend

[52:44] Brock revolutionized the art of this

[52:46] century by inventing cubism, a radical

[52:49] new language for painting. He told the

[52:52] story of a savage struggle to catapult

[52:54] his art into the future through a jog in

[52:56] a lemon, a skull, and paint brushes.

[53:00] The language of cubism fractured,

[53:03] fragmented, and reassembled the real

[53:05] world on canvas.

[53:07] It said that everything even things we

[53:10] see and touch is changing all the time.

[53:15] Picasso changed too. He got himself a

[53:18] new love whom he called Majoli. And he

[53:21] took the unprecedented step of inviting

[53:23] the real world in to tell his stories.

[53:28] The parable of real words, real rope,

[53:32] real wallpaper and sheet music and

[53:34] paintings. a real spoon on a sculpture

[53:37] said that there is no difference between

[53:40] art and life

[53:44] and then he came face to face with

[53:46] death. The world was at war. Ava Majoli

[53:51] died in 1915 and his friends were away

[53:54] at the front. Picasso painted himself as

[53:57] a bottle of spirits forced by the

[53:59] bluebird's shadow to dance the dance of

[54:02] death. He resurrected the bird for a

[54:05] chilling insight into the dark shadows

[54:08] of his empty nest where no fire burned

[54:11] on the hearth.

[54:13] By war's end, the bird had become a

[54:15] pigeon for the plucking. But life goes

[54:18] on. When Picasso's first son, Pablo, was

[54:22] born to his first wife, Olga, in 1921,

[54:25] he expressed for all parents their pride

[54:28] and career at this fragile new life with

[54:31] a sacrificial [ __ ] on a table under

[54:34] which a scared dog waits. By 1925, his

[54:39] marriage was a shambles. A dear old

[54:42] friend had died, and Picasso painted an

[54:44] allegory of fury and frustration. Then

[54:48] he nailed torn cloth to canvas, impaled

[54:51] it with a knitting needle, and called it

[54:53] a guitar. But after he fell in love

[54:56] again with a teenager, even his guitars

[55:00] succumbed to the joy of sex.

[55:10] Then the Red Bull of brutality brought

[55:13] civil war to his native Spain and World

[55:16] War II to everyone. And Picasso's

[55:18] anti-war stories were told with skulls

[55:21] and fllayed flesh.

[55:23] After that, Picasso never lost his

[55:26] fascination with skulls. By then, in his

[55:29] 60s, his 70s, his 80s, he was struggling

[55:32] with aging and the fear of dying.

[55:35] Three years before he finally did give

[55:37] in to death at the age of 91, he painted

[55:40] one of his final still lives. It was a

[55:43] birthday flowers and it raged against

[55:46] going gently. "Hang on," it said to his

[55:49] century. "There's still too much to do."

[55:52] I'm Army Wallik.

[56:01] Again, the main stories of this

[56:02] Wednesday, former Defense Secretary

[56:04] Clark Clifford and his law partner,

[56:06] Robert Alman, were indicted in

[56:07] connection with their alleged role in

[56:09] the Bank of Credit and Commerce scandal.

[56:11] The two men categorically denied all

[56:14] charges. United Nations inspectors left

[56:17] Baghdad after failing to find weapons

[56:19] program evidence in Iraq's agriculture

[56:21] ministry. They said there were signs

[56:24] material had been removed from the

[56:25] building. Good night, Jim.

[56:27] >> Good night, Judy. We'll see you tomorrow

[56:29] night. But before we go, updates of two

[56:31] stories the NewsHour has covered

[56:33] recently. The Food and Drug

[56:34] Administration today said RU486, the

[56:37] French abortion pill that is not licens

[56:40] licensed in this country, will be made

[56:43] available to an American man with brain

[56:45] cancer. David Gro told a Washington

[56:47] hearing yesterday the drug may help

[56:49] prolong his life. The FDA said the

[56:51] manufacturer had decided to release the

[56:53] drug to Grow's doctor for medical

[56:55] research purposes. On another story, rap

[56:58] musician Ice Tea has decided to drop the

[57:01] song Cop Killer from his latest album

[57:03] during a debate about that recording

[57:05] last week. We mistakenly identified

[57:07] actor Charlton H as a board member of

[57:10] Time Warner. He's not. He is a

[57:12] shareholder, not a board member. I'm Jim

[57:15] Lara. Thank you and good night.

[57:18] >> Funding for the McNeel NewsHour has been

[57:20] provided by PepsiCo.

[57:34] Mexico.

[57:36] Part of helping the world live and

[57:38] communicate better is keeping it well

[57:40] informed. That's why funding for the

[57:42] NewsHour is also provided by AT&T

[57:45] and by the Corporation for Public

[57:47] Broadcasting and viewers like you.

[58:06] from childhood, a lesson of life.

[58:09] >> When children do jobs like that, they're

[58:11] working with their parents, with their

[58:13] brothers and sisters. Everybody's paying

[58:14] attention to each other so when they

[58:16] grow up, they always know who they are.

[58:19] There is more than bread making being

[58:21] passed on in this kitchen. To each

[58:23] visitor, a ball of dough,

[58:27] >> hands-on experience.

[58:31] >> Making bread is very good therapy. If

[58:34] you get angry at your neighbor, the best

[58:37] thing in the world you can do is to go

[58:38] in the house and bake a batch of bread.

[58:40] >> Work hard, feel good.

[58:44] >> The oven first. Once a week her family

[58:47] baked bread 3540 loaves a week. But

[58:51] today so few have smelled baking bread.

[58:53] It is distant in the memory. Life has

[58:56] changed has a thought. But here in a

[58:59] kitchen in a farmhouse built in 1869. It

[59:02] is done again.

[59:08] A bit of each of our heritage fresh from

[59:10] the oven.

[59:15] Little of it goes home. It's

[59:17] >> wonderful.

[59:19] >> Ray Summers at large near Aurora.

[59:22] >> The Aurora Colony Historical Society

[59:24] owns the Stoverill Farm. This weekend,

[59:26] Aurora welcomes the world with its

[59:29] annual Aurora Colony Days, including a

[59:31] parade on Saturday.

[59:33] >> Aurora is south of Cani on Highway 99E.

[59:37] Of course, this would not be a day to be

[59:39] baking bread. I guess tomorrow the hot

[59:41] air is going to have something dirty in

[59:43] it.

[59:43] >> Yes, it is. President Ry's here to tell

[59:45] us about that. That's

[59:45] >> right. Just when you thought you were

[59:46] doing your part by conserving water, now

[59:48] the DEEQ wants you to not drive to work

[59:51] tomorrow. Take a bus, take a plane, take

[59:53] an aeroplane, whatever. But don't use

[59:55] your car because cars and gas powered

[59:58] engines create ozone. And we got too

[60:00] much of that when it gets hot.

[60:01] >> All right. Thanks, Randy. Thanks for

[60:03] joining us.

[60:04] >> Come back and see us at 11. Good night

[60:05] for now.