CBS Evening News - 1992-03-24 (Western) (no intro)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Jerry Brown the winner over Bill Clinton

[0:03] in a hot and tight Democratic

[0:04] presidential primary. Brown didn't win

[0:07] by much, but it was enough to slow down

[0:09] Clinton's hopes of getting an early lock

[0:11] on the nomination. Paul Sanis came in

[0:13] third even after dropping out of the

[0:15] race last week. Richard Thrrell has

[0:17] more.

[0:20] Today's Connecticut primary was haunted

[0:22] by the political ghost of Paul Sonis.

[0:25] Had Songis not dropped out of the race

[0:27] last week, our exit polls of Connecticut

[0:29] Democratic voters show he'd be beating

[0:32] both Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown

[0:34] handily, and more than half of those

[0:36] pled, more than in any other primary

[0:38] state so far, say they wanted somebody

[0:40] else on the ballot. Jerry Brown has been

[0:43] campaigning for the protest vote. We're

[0:46] going to shock the establishment and

[0:48] we're going to keep this campaign moving

[0:50] all the way back here to the convention.

[0:54] >> By 3 to one, voters say they agree with

[0:57] Brown's criticisms that our political

[0:59] system is corrupted by money. But

[1:02] virtually none of those who voted for

[1:04] Brown did so because they thought he

[1:06] could be elected. The question for Bill

[1:08] Clinton is whether Connecticut voters

[1:10] have been listening to the questions

[1:12] Jerry Brown's been raising about

[1:14] Clinton's character. Clinton said today

[1:16] that he'll eventually beat Brown when

[1:18] voters compare their records. But in our

[1:21] exit poll, for every voter who's

[1:23] satisfied Clinton has the honesty and

[1:26] integrity to serve as president, there

[1:28] is a voter who is not satisfied. And by

[1:31] three to one, voters say the candidates

[1:33] have been making unfair charges about

[1:35] each other in their campaigns. There's

[1:38] also news from the biggest primary

[1:40] state, California, which votes on June

[1:42] 2nd. Today's field poll of registered

[1:44] Democrats shows Clinton and Brown

[1:46] virtually tied. The bad news for both is

[1:49] that more than four out of 10 voters say

[1:51] they're not inclined to vote for either

[1:53] of them. Talk about high negatives.

[1:55] Richard Trell, CBS News, New York. On

[1:58] the Republican side in Connecticut,

[2:00] President Bush won tonight, but there

[2:02] was still a big protest vote against

[2:03] him. Altogether, Pat Buchanan, an

[2:06] uncommitted Slate, and David Duke took a

[2:08] third of the Republican vote. A small

[2:11] cloud of radioactive gas spread a huge

[2:13] cloud of fear over Russia and the rest

[2:15] of the world today. Officially, it was

[2:17] only a minor incident at one of Russia's

[2:20] aging nuclear plants 50 miles from St.

[2:22] Petersburg. But as Anthony Mason

[2:24] reports, it was also a reminder and a

[2:27] warning.

[2:28] The nuclear power station outside St.

[2:31] Petersburg registered the radiation leak

[2:33] early this morning. Within 3 seconds, an

[2:36] automatic safety system reportedly shut

[2:38] the reactor down. Outside, radiation

[2:41] levels were said to show only a modest

[2:43] increase. Surrounding villages were not

[2:46] evacuated, but when Russian officials

[2:48] initially classified it

[2:49] >> serious incident,

[2:50] >> a serious incident, it set off alarm

[2:52] bells across Europe. Experts have

[2:55] described the leak of radioactive gas

[2:57] from the nuclear power plant in Russia

[2:59] as serious.

[3:00] >> Europeans are very sensitive to what's

[3:03] happening in in the old Soviet Union

[3:05] because it's right on our doorstep.

[3:07] >> 6 years ago, the world's worst nuclear

[3:10] disaster at Chernobyl spread radioactive

[3:12] fallout across Northern Europe. The St.

[3:15] Petersburg plant is of the same design.

[3:18] Only two months ago, Swedish inspectors

[3:20] citing poor safety standards called for

[3:23] it to be closed.

[3:24] >> Morale is is way down and they're having

[3:26] a lot of difficulty simply getting spare

[3:30] parts and materials from other parts of

[3:33] the former Soviet Union to keep these

[3:35] plants operating properly. So the

[3:38] operating condition of these plants is

[3:40] steadily going downhill.

[3:42] >> The main concern, the Chernobyl design

[3:44] has no containment vessel. American

[3:47] reactors are required to have a steel

[3:49] and concrete shell to contain any

[3:51] radiation leaks. Unlike Chernobyl,

[3:54] today's leak was apparently minor. One

[3:56] other striking difference, a spokesman

[3:59] outside the plant pledging,

[4:01] >> "We're hiding nothing."

[4:03] >> We're probably most pleased that the

[4:05] Russians themselves noticed this and

[4:06] announced this uh very quickly and they

[4:09] do seem to be cooperating with the

[4:11] international authorities. But there are

[4:12] still 16 Chernobyl type reactors in the

[4:15] former Soviet Union. And with a country

[4:17] still deep in economic crisis, the

[4:20] Commonwealth simply can't afford to shut

[4:22] them down. Anthony Mason, CBS News,

[4:25] Moscow.

[4:26] >> Investigators are still trying to zero

[4:28] in on the cause of Sunday's crash of US

[4:30] Airflight 405 in New York. Today, they

[4:33] did determine what caused most of the 27

[4:36] deaths on board. As Jacqueline Adams

[4:38] reports, it was not the impact of the

[4:40] crash or the fire.

[4:43] >> Student Yaser Morsey was one of the

[4:45] lucky ones. Somehow Sunday night, he

[4:47] escaped from the inferno that US

[4:49] Airflight 405 became.

[4:51] >> I can't believe I made it. You know, I

[4:53] can't believe I made it to now.

[4:55] >> 27 others did not survive. And the

[4:57] medical examiner said today that 18 died

[5:00] as a result of drowning after the plane

[5:02] landed upside down in icy Flushing Bay.

[5:04] the others of burns or the impact of the

[5:07] crash. Safety investigators so far

[5:09] aren't embracing the prevailing theory

[5:12] that snow and ice accumulation on the

[5:14] wings and runway caused the fatal crash.

[5:17] Since this was the first US accident

[5:18] with fatalities involving a Fulkar 28

[5:21] aircraft, investigators are eager to see

[5:23] Canada's final report due Thursday of an

[5:26] almost identical Air Ontario crash 3

[5:28] years ago. Same type of aircraft, same

[5:30] weather conditions, same result.

[5:34] 24 people were killed in that accident

[5:36] and Canadian aviation officials believe

[5:38] they've learned a crucial lesson. If

[5:40] it's snowing, a plane may need far less

[5:43] than the standard 20 to 30 minutes

[5:45] between deicing and takeoff.

[5:47] >> 20 to 30 minutes, I think, is a myth

[5:48] that's existed in the industry for quite

[5:50] a while. And in some cases, it it's uh

[5:53] it's enough. It's more than enough time.

[5:55] However, if the precipitation is still

[5:57] falling, uh then the holdover times are

[6:00] greatly reduced. On Sunday night, the US

[6:03] Weather Service says a dry snow was

[6:05] falling at roughly 1 in per hour. The US

[6:07] Airflight was deiced twice. First at

[6:10] 8:30 p.m. and then again at 900 p.m. But

[6:13] after the plane taxi to the runway, it

[6:15] had to wait a full 30 minutes before it

[6:18] attempted to take off.

[6:19] >> The failure to have a system in place to

[6:21] deise aircraft immediately before

[6:23] takeoff. the failure to have a system in

[6:25] place for a final inspection of the

[6:27] aircraft right at the uh the departure

[6:29] end of the runway to make sure that ice

[6:31] and snow hasn't developed. All these

[6:33] things happening together can cause a

[6:36] tragedy as they did in New York the

[6:37] other day.

[6:38] >> Pilots have long urged the use of a

[6:39] better deicing gel on the ground wing

[6:42] inspectors and a deicing station at the

[6:44] end of the runway. Now they hope they'll

[6:46] finally get those changes. Jacqueline

[6:48] Adams, CBS News, New York. Still to come

[6:52] on the CBS Evening News, the

[6:53] catastrophic cost of long-term health

[6:55] care

[6:58] and help for the perplexed American

[7:00] taxpayer.

[7:09] Capitol Hill. And in the story of one

[7:11] man out west, CBS News health

[7:14] correspondent Edie Magnus reports on

[7:15] elderly Americans who need long-term

[7:18] health care but get left out in the cold

[7:20] instead.

[7:22] >> This man's flight provided a tragic

[7:25] illustration today of America's struggle

[7:27] to care for its chronically ill. He was

[7:29] abandoned at a parking lot in Idaho with

[7:32] only a bag of diapers and a note

[7:34] identifying him as an Alzheimer's

[7:36] victim. Clues to his identity were

[7:38] stripped away. An act unthinkable yet

[7:41] not unlikely, say some, considering the

[7:43] costs of caring for those who need

[7:45] long-term health care. This year alone,

[7:48] catastrophic illness will force an

[7:50] estimated 1 million Americans into

[7:52] poverty.

[7:54] >> I felt like I've been in a rise in the

[7:58] middle of it where the screws are just

[8:00] turning tighter and tighter. On Capitol

[8:03] Hill, Philadelphia TV reporter Orian

[8:05] Reed described her battle to support

[8:08] both children and an ailing mother who

[8:10] suffered from Alzheimer's until she died

[8:12] last month. It nearly wiped her out.

[8:15] >> And I'm paid decently, but no one can

[8:19] afford to handle this kind of expense

[8:23] over a long hall. And figures introduced

[8:26] today show six states home to more than

[8:29] a third of the nation's elderly were

[8:31] trimming or eliminating programs to

[8:34] provide long-term health care for the

[8:35] chronically ill. Meanwhile, the number

[8:38] of Alzheimer's patients alone is some 4

[8:40] million and rising.

[8:42] >> In less than 8 years, there will be

[8:44] almost 5 million and those numbers were

[8:48] will explode to over 14 million by the

[8:51] year 2050. And this is a time bomb in

[8:54] American healthcare.

[8:55] >> There has to be a way to protect people

[8:58] from this. The government has to help us

[9:02] with long-term care.

[9:05] >> The man left in that parking lot was

[9:07] identified through television news

[9:08] reports today as 84year-old John Kery of

[9:12] Portland, Oregon. No one knows yet how

[9:14] he ended up in Idaho. Police say they

[9:16] are considering filing charges of

[9:18] abandonment against his family. Connie,

[9:21] >> thank you. Eden, a federal appeals court

[9:23] says public libraries do have a right to

[9:26] expel homeless people because of their

[9:28] behavior or hygiene. The decision

[9:30] overturns a homeless man's case against

[9:32] a library in New Jersey. The label says

[9:36] it's tuna fit for humans, but the

[9:38] government says it's really decomposed

[9:40] tuna meant for cats. Authorities seize

[9:43] cartons of the mislabeled tuna from a

[9:45] warehouse in New Jersey. Almost 40,000

[9:47] cans in all. Federal health officials

[9:49] say eating the stuff wouldn't make you

[9:51] sick, but as one of them put it, who

[9:53] wants to eat decomposed cat food?

[9:56] The evening news continues in a moment.

[9:58] Next up, President Bush's latest stand

[10:00] on global warming

[10:03] street.

[10:05] President Bush said today he hopes to

[10:07] sign an international treaty to fight

[10:08] global warming, an agreement he has long

[10:11] opposed. But in a move already drawing

[10:13] the eyeire of environmental groups, Mr.

[10:15] Mr. Bush would not agree to a specific

[10:17] strategy to reduce carbon dioxide

[10:19] emissions, a major threat to the ozone

[10:22] layer. In his annual report on

[10:24] environmental quality, Mr. Bush said an

[10:26] exclusive focus on targets and

[10:28] timetables for carbon dioxide emissions

[10:30] is inadequate to address complex

[10:33] dynamics of climate change. My concern

[10:36] is twofold. One, to do what's right for

[10:38] the environment, and two,

[10:41] be sure that we don't throw a lot of

[10:43] Americans out of work. Critics on

[10:45] Capitol Hill were quick to point out

[10:47] that without targets and timets,

[10:49] environmental damage will only get

[10:51] worse.

[10:51] >> If every country in the world is is uh

[10:55] going to just pick its own vague general

[10:59] range of uh uh greenhouse gas

[11:03] reductions, then nothing will be

[11:05] accomplished. and environmental groups

[11:07] charged the president with trying to

[11:08] gain political advantage by wrapping

[11:11] himself in an environmental cause

[11:13] without supplying solutions to the

[11:14] problem. The president's announcement

[11:17] today amounts to nothing more than

[11:19] posturing. It contains nothing of

[11:21] substance and it won't move the world

[11:24] one inch closer to resolving the severe

[11:26] problem of global warming. The

[11:29] administration stands alone among the

[11:31] major industrial nations refusing to set

[11:33] standards on carbon dioxide emissions.

[11:35] And Mr. Bush is still debating whether

[11:37] to attend a summit in June where the

[11:39] global climate treaty will be signed.

[11:41] The fear is Mr. Bush would be the odd

[11:44] man out just before running for

[11:45] reelection as the environmental

[11:47] president. Randall Kingston, CBS News,

[11:50] the White House.

[11:52] The United States is opening diplomatic

[11:54] relations with Georgia, the last of the

[11:56] former Soviet republics to win US

[11:57] recognition. A White House spokesman

[12:00] says the decision follows talks with

[12:01] Eduard Shvar. The former Soviet foreign

[12:04] minister is promising to restore

[12:06] democracy in his home republic.

[12:09] Now from around the world, more CBS

[12:11] news. In Aman, Jordan, fire swept

[12:14] through the ground floor of the luxury

[12:15] Intercontinental Hotel. Some guests had

[12:18] to be rescued from balconies. At least

[12:20] one death reported, more than 20

[12:22] injuries. The fire started in a basement

[12:24] tent set up for a nightly banquet during

[12:26] the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan.

[12:29] Delegates from the Arab League left

[12:31] Cairo for Libya today. They'll be

[12:33] discussing Libya's offer to give the

[12:35] league the two men wanted by the United

[12:37] States and Britain for the bombing of

[12:38] Panama 103. In South Korea, voters

[12:42] handed President Note Wu a sharp

[12:44] setback. His ruling party failed to win

[12:46] a clear majority in parliamentary

[12:48] elections. In Helsinki, the United

[12:50] States and Russia were among 24 nations

[12:52] signing the so-called Open Skies Treaty.

[12:55] It will allow military surveillance

[12:57] flights over each other's territory. And

[13:00] Space Shuttle Atlantis blasted off on a

[13:02] mission close to home. From orbit, the

[13:04] astronauts are running a checkup on

[13:06] Earth's atmosphere, especially the ozone

[13:08] layer.

[13:19] T minus 22 days and counting to that

[13:22] shared national experience. Income tax

[13:25] day. Millions of Americans will be

[13:27] looking for help filling out their

[13:28] returns. If you're one of them,

[13:30] correspondent Ray Brady has some tips in

[13:32] tonight's report on the money crunch

[13:35] until your return is fully prepared.

[13:37] Have a seat over there. They will call

[13:38] you. 41 is your number.

[13:39] >> Guess what time of year it is.

[13:41] >> One look at those faces. worried,

[13:44] concerned, angry, and you know, it's tax

[13:47] time. Time for those annual taxpayer

[13:50] tears.

[13:52] >> I feel like I have a lot more taxes

[13:53] taken out than I should.

[13:55] >> It definitely puts a damper on the

[13:58] amount of money I have for spending.

[14:00] >> Have you ever tried to do your taxes

[14:01] yourself? I never tried that before, but

[14:05] now I'm thinking about it. I think I

[14:06] will have to try. If you're getting

[14:08] ready to do battle with form 1040 or

[14:10] form 1040A or you face the terrors of

[14:13] filling out schedule C, there are all

[14:16] kinds of books and cassettes available

[14:18] that can tell you everything about taxes

[14:20] from A to Z, from adjusted gross income

[14:23] to zero coupon bonds.

[14:27] Need more help? There are all kinds of

[14:29] commercial tax preparers. Their average

[14:31] bill runs around $52.

[14:34] >> That's deductible. Next, please. Plus,

[14:37] free advice at Internal Revenue Service

[14:39] centers where, can you believe it, the

[14:42] IRS wants you to feel at home. Whenever

[14:45] you walk in through the door here at

[14:47] IRS, you know, they go crazy. So, we sit

[14:49] them down, we explain to them what we

[14:52] have here, what the uh basis of the form

[14:55] is for.

[14:56] >> They sold this house at a loss.

[14:59] >> Tough luck, says Uncle Sam. You can

[15:01] deduct gambling or stock market losses

[15:04] against your winnings. But if you sold

[15:06] your house at a loss, no deduction. The

[15:09] top questions to the IRS.

[15:12] >> Where is my refund?

[15:14] >> How long will it take?

[15:16] >> Why are you holding it?

[15:18] >> Answer: about 4 weeks if you mail in

[15:20] your return now. Roughly 2 and 1/2 weeks

[15:23] if you file electronically, says the

[15:25] IRS.

[15:27] Another big taxpayer question.

[15:29] >> Uh, who can I take as a dependent?

[15:32] And it's still the dog. dog is still

[15:35] there.

[15:37] >> Oh, every year when thousands try to

[15:39] take Photo as a dependent, they wind up

[15:42] in the government dog house. And watch

[15:46] out especially for small errors, not

[15:48] signing the return, mistakes on the W2,

[15:52] and that can start whistles blowing at

[15:55] the IRS.

[15:56] >> If you put down the incorrect

[15:59] information 3 years from now, okay,

[16:01] they're going to come back and haunt

[16:02] you. Enough said. Ray Brady, CBS News.

[16:08] The money crunch.

[16:10] >> Coming up next, Eye on America. Tonight,

[16:13] you'll see what happens when public

[16:15] assistance becomes a private enterprise.

[16:20] Well, that's what more and more state

[16:21] and local governments are doing. In

[16:23] tonight's Eye on America, Wyatt Andrews

[16:26] reports on the latest public concern to

[16:28] go private.

[16:30] >> They want to run out of place. 18 months

[16:32] ago, Bill Jacobs was homeless, jobless,

[16:35] and dealing crack cocaine. He had fallen

[16:38] just as low as he could possibly

[16:40] imagine. To put it in a nutshell, I've

[16:43] been to hell in that.

[16:44] >> Straight out of some fairy tale, a

[16:46] private company, not the state, a

[16:49] private company, offered to train Bill

[16:51] to work, find him a job, and take his

[16:53] whole family off public assistance.

[16:56] Today, he is just a waiter serving

[16:58] corporate lunches to American Express

[17:00] executives. But a bill not even

[17:02] Cinderella came so far so fast.

[17:05] >> Okay, everybody enjoy your lunch.

[17:07] >> Thank you.

[17:08] >> They have made the difference in whether

[17:10] or not I would probably be still

[17:12] collecting welfare and in a shelter.

[17:15] They offered the whole difference in

[17:17] whether or not you're independent or,

[17:19] you know, dependent.

[17:21] >> All businesses are concerned in

[17:24] productivity. The private firm that

[17:26] trained Bill and is getting hundreds of

[17:28] other New Yorkers off the dole is this

[17:31] group, America Works, a for-profit

[17:33] agency that makes its money by offering

[17:35] the state a startlingly simple business

[17:38] proposition.

[17:40] >> The state has $15,000 that it puts out

[17:44] to keep a family of three on welfare.

[17:46] and we come to them and we say for

[17:49] $5,300 we're going to take them off

[17:51] welfare for you guaranteed or don't pay

[17:53] a taxpayer nickel to us. That's the

[17:56] deal.

[17:56] >> America Works claims and the state

[17:58] confirms a 70% success rate.

[18:01] >> So think of the other reasons why we

[18:03] want to work besides money.

[18:05] >> That the toughest of welfare cases might

[18:07] be handled by a private company is part

[18:10] of a growing trend. States and

[18:12] localities with their shrinking local

[18:13] budgets. Long ago privatized services

[18:16] like the bus company or garbage

[18:17] collection. Now it's the more human,

[18:19] grittier social services that are also

[18:22] going out for contract.

[18:24] >> Hello.

[18:26] >> Right. How you doing?

[18:27] >> Virginia and other states, for example,

[18:29] are privatizing the control of juvenile

[18:32] delinquents. Instead of going to jail

[18:34] for truency and assault, 15-year-old

[18:36] Tanya has been sentenced to intensive

[18:39] counseling at home with her mother.

[18:41] >> Tanya's main problem is she's easily

[18:42] misfluent.

[18:43] >> Today, the counselors caught Tanya out

[18:45] of the house when she was supposed to be

[18:48] home.

[18:48] >> Tanya, how about introduce me to these

[18:50] people that you tend to want to hang

[18:51] with and not be at home. I'm real

[18:52] interested to meet them. Private case

[18:54] workers Wade Townson and Mandel

[18:56] Wilkerson are paid a fee to keep Tanya

[18:59] in school, out of trouble, and out of a

[19:01] much more expensive institution.

[19:03] >> If you didn't have these counselors,

[19:05] where would you be?

[19:06] >> Locked up.

[19:06] >> What do you think they have taught you?

[19:08] >> To um be respectful, not run the

[19:12] streets.

[19:13] >> The counselor's private company is

[19:15] called Family Centered Services. We're

[19:17] telling the state that if you don't see

[19:19] clear changes in this family within the

[19:22] first 30 days we're working with this

[19:23] family, then fire us. Hold us

[19:26] accountable. Let us go.

[19:27] >> Stop privatization. It means layoffs for

[19:30] city workers.

[19:31] >> Public employee unions complain that not

[19:34] all government attempts to privatize

[19:36] social services are successful. One of

[19:38] the major questions we have with it is

[19:41] do they have the skills and the

[19:42] abilities and the expertise uh to

[19:45] perform those kinds of jobs. But the

[19:48] private companies say their workers do

[19:50] what state workers do not. Private firms

[19:52] don't just hand out checks. They have a

[19:55] profit motive to solve the problem.

[19:57] >> The staff that work here get paid

[19:59] salaries and bonuses based upon the

[20:02] family getting a job and getting off

[20:05] welfare. And we don't get paid unless

[20:07] that transition occurs.

[20:09] >> God.

[20:10] >> Bill Jacobs, meanwhile, will soon move

[20:12] his family to a larger apartment. He is

[20:15] literally climbing out of the welfare

[20:17] trap, rising to the horizon of

[20:19] self-sufficiency and marveling at how

[20:21] easily he escaped the streets once the

[20:24] state paid someone to do it. In

[20:27] Manhattan, Wyatt Andrews for Eye on

[20:29] America. In the Connecticut primary, CBS

[20:32] News projects Jerry Brown wins the

[20:34] Democratic presidential primary,

[20:36] upsetting Bill Clinton. President Bush

[20:38] wins on the Republican side. More about

[20:41] this on your late local news. I'm Connie

[20:43] Chung for Dan Rather. I'll be here again

[20:44] tomorrow night and I'll also see you

[20:46] tomorrow morning. I'll be sitting in for

[20:47] Paul on CBS this morning. Thank you for

[20:50] joining us and for all of us at CBS

[20:52] News. Good night.