NBC Nightly News - 1999-08-20

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] working for you.

[0:04] >> Earthquake. The news only gets worse.

[0:06] Tonight, over 9,000 are dead, 35,000

[0:09] missing, and now feared dead in Turkey.

[0:12] In depth tonight, an American scare.

[0:14] Four dead from an unstoppable staff

[0:16] infection, and why doctors are so

[0:18] worried about this outbreak. Also

[0:21] tonight, your money. If you're waiting

[0:23] for a check to clear and would really

[0:25] like to know what the bank is really

[0:27] doing, you're not alone. and America's

[0:30] newest role models as wrestling moves

[0:32] out of the ring and into your

[0:34] neighborhood. Whatever happened to

[0:35] baseball practice

[0:39] from NBC News World Headquarters in New

[0:42] York, this is NBC Nightly News with Tom

[0:46] Brokaw. Substituting tonight, Brian

[0:49] Williams.

[0:50] >> Good evening. The death toll in Turkey

[0:52] rose by thousands today. And there's a

[0:55] new estimate that over 30,000 more

[0:57] people may still be trapped and feared

[1:00] dead. Many believe that any rescues this

[1:03] long after the quake fall more into the

[1:05] category of a miracle. In many places,

[1:07] basic human needs cannot be met. And

[1:10] there's a real fear that the dead may

[1:12] overwhelm the living because the sheer

[1:14] volume of the carnage is a crisis in

[1:16] itself. Our reporting tonight begins

[1:18] with NBC's Ron Allen in Ismat, Turkey.

[1:22] >> Today, only a handful rescued, mostly

[1:25] children pulled from the rubber.

[1:28] >> Now, fully 4 days, nearly 100 hours

[1:30] after the quake, chances of survival are

[1:33] growing slim.

[1:35] >> The rescue mission has become a race to

[1:37] recover the dead, perhaps 35,000.

[1:42] >> Workers cover their faces because of the

[1:44] stench. many vaccinated to guard against

[1:46] disease from decaying bodies.

[1:49] >> Turkey is trying to isolate and bury its

[1:51] dead as soon as possible. They've asked

[1:53] for 10,000 additional body bags to

[1:55] prevent the possible spread of typhus

[1:59] and bulldozers are digging huge mass

[2:01] graves. At this site, 1,000 bodies

[2:04] buried together. To avoid a health

[2:06] emergency, Muslim leaders forgo

[2:08] religious customs. There are no separate

[2:10] burials for men and women. There is

[2:12] another major health threat, a possible

[2:14] outbreak of other diseases, chalera,

[2:16] typhoid with millions of people camping

[2:18] outdoors, poor sanitation and hygiene.

[2:22] >> And when you get a lot of people living

[2:23] in situations like that, um that's a

[2:26] breeding ground for communicable

[2:27] diseases.

[2:29] >> Hundreds of families crowd this camp

[2:31] near the quakes epicenter. There is

[2:32] little water, virtually no sanitation.

[2:35] We can't wash our hairs, our body,

[2:40] >> and we are afraid of getting sick,

[2:41] getting ill.

[2:43] >> Life in the open is taking its toll on

[2:45] the young. This 9-day old baby's face

[2:48] burned red by the sun.

[2:52] >> We don't have any medicine for the

[2:53] children. This man says his baby is sick

[2:55] with diarrhea.

[2:58] Today, health workers trying to fight

[3:00] off potential epidemics, giving typhoid

[3:03] shots to children, spreading

[3:04] disinfectant in the streets, treating

[3:06] coastal areas where raw sewage washes up

[3:09] on shore.

[3:11] For the first time in some

[3:12] neighborhoods, picking up piles of

[3:14] garbage.

[3:16] Today, some signs of more food arriving,

[3:19] mostly donations from neighboring

[3:20] communities, but people here still

[3:22] complain they're not getting enough help

[3:24] to meet their basic needs.

[3:26] Ahmed survived 7 hours under the rubble

[3:29] of his home before being pulled out. Now

[3:31] he's living with his family on the

[3:33] street.

[3:34] >> This isn't comfortable. It's not

[3:36] comfortable.

[3:37] >> He thought being rescued would end his

[3:39] nightmare. But now, like so many others,

[3:41] he's faced with more misery.

[3:45] >> Tonight, there are 1,000 rescue workers

[3:47] on the ground. Turkeykey's army has sent

[3:49] some 50,000 troops to the earthquake

[3:50] zone. But still, the relief effort is

[3:52] bogged down in chaos and confusion.

[3:54] 2,000 US Marines could come ashore this

[3:57] weekend, but the Turkish government

[3:58] still hasn't figured out the best way to

[4:00] put them to work. Brian,

[4:01] >> correspondent Ron Allen with us tonight

[4:03] from Ismmet, Turkey. And as we just saw,

[4:05] another cruelty of this kind of natural

[4:07] disaster often comes after the

[4:09] destruction and the deaths. It's the

[4:10] risk of that rampaging disease in a

[4:13] country with no way to stop it

[4:14] virtually. It is carried by air, water,

[4:17] and contact. It can often make her a

[4:19] second wave of disaster. Our report on

[4:21] that tonight from NBC's Robert Hager.

[4:25] As aid groups like America's pack

[4:27] medical supplies for Turkey today,

[4:29] they're mindful of these threats. No

[4:31] clean water to drink, no functioning

[4:33] sewage system, and high temperatures.

[4:36] Conditions ripe for the rapid spread of

[4:38] microorganisms, says the National

[4:40] Institutes of Health's Dr. Anthony

[4:42] Fauci.

[4:43] >> There's probably going to be a lot of

[4:44] dysentery and diarrhea and waterbornne

[4:46] infections.

[4:47] >> More serious, the potential for typhus

[4:49] causes high fever and death spread by

[4:52] insects. The most extraordinary uh uh

[4:55] example of the devastation that typhus

[4:59] could actually uh bring to the

[5:01] population is immediately following

[5:03] World War II in Russia where tens of

[5:05] millions probably around 30 million

[5:06] people were infected with typhus and up

[5:09] to 3 million of them died.

[5:10] >> Fouchy believes that looms as a big

[5:12] threat in Turkey too. And another little

[5:14] publicized but very real problem, kidney

[5:17] failure, common after muscles and bones

[5:19] have been crushed by debris, allows

[5:22] poisons like excess potassium to build

[5:24] in the bloodstream. Cornell New York

[5:26] Hospitals Dr. John Sullivan.

[5:28] >> If the potassium released from the

[5:30] crushed muscle is very high, the patient

[5:33] can possibly succumb in hours.

[5:36] >> Hundreds of portable dialysis machines

[5:38] being rushed to Turkey to treat kidney

[5:40] failure and drugs for those with chronic

[5:42] diseases. People suffering from

[5:44] diabetes, from respiratory illnesses,

[5:47] from hypertension really go untreated.

[5:50] So what will happen is those conditions

[5:52] will worsen. They will in fact can

[5:54] become life-threatening very very

[5:56] quickly.

[5:57] >> Then there are the myths. For instance,

[5:59] the fear of chalera which in Africa

[6:01] swept through Rwanda refugee camps 5

[6:03] years ago. Experts say conditions are

[6:05] different in Turkey. There's a far out

[6:08] chance that you'd have something like

[6:09] chalera, but unlikely because if if a if

[6:12] a microbe like chalera is not already in

[6:14] that population. It's not going to just

[6:16] appear when you have a disaster area

[6:18] like we're having now in Turkey.

[6:20] >> Another myth according to Fouchi and the

[6:22] World Health Organization that bodies

[6:24] left unburied breed disease. Not so say

[6:26] the experts say priority should go to

[6:29] treating the living and priority to

[6:31] clean drinking water, to portable

[6:33] toilets and showers. Now, more than any

[6:35] sophisticated drugs, only the

[6:37] restoration of basic sanitation can

[6:39] stave off a terrible epidemic. Robert

[6:42] Hager, NBC News, Washington.

[6:45] The Western Hemisphere was shaken by two

[6:47] other earthquakes today, mostly breaking

[6:49] windows and rattling nerves in Central

[6:51] America. A tremor measuring 6.7 rolled

[6:54] through Costa Rica early this morning.

[6:56] It was strong enough to be felt in

[6:58] Panama and Nicaragua as well. Also early

[7:01] this morning in the United States in

[7:03] Montana, a moderate earthquake shook a

[7:06] sparssely populated corner of that

[7:07] state. Like Costa Rica, there have been

[7:09] no reports of injuries or serious damage

[7:12] there. When we continue this Friday

[7:14] evening in this country, a mysterious

[7:16] outbreak of an unstoppable and deadly

[7:18] infection. What we report here clearly

[7:21] shows that some of our worst fears are

[7:23] coming true. A simple infection suddenly

[7:27] resistant though to the usual

[7:28] treatments. An important in-depth report

[7:30] for you tonight. And waiting for your

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[9:56] Dateline Friday starting at 98 central.

[9:59] NBC News in depth. Tonight, important

[10:02] health news. A common bacteria suddenly

[10:04] resistant to almost all antibiotics to

[10:07] fight it and taking a deadly toll.

[10:09] According to the experts, it could be

[10:11] another sign that Americans are making

[10:12] some unhealthy choices in that they're

[10:15] taking too many antibiotics. Every year

[10:17] in this country, doctors write a 100red

[10:19] million prescriptions for antibiotics.

[10:21] It is estimated that as many as half of

[10:23] them are not needed. Now, a growing fear

[10:26] that too many antibiotics could be

[10:28] creating a new health threat. NBC's

[10:30] chief science correspondent, Robert

[10:32] Bazelle, begins tonight in-depth

[10:33] reporting.

[10:36] A terrifying scenario coming to pass.

[10:39] The deaths of four children show that

[10:40] antibiotics might no longer protect

[10:43] against one of the most common easily

[10:45] acquired infections.

[10:46] >> What we report here clearly shows that

[10:49] some of our worst fears are coming true.

[10:51] >> The bacteria stafloccus or staff so

[10:55] common that almost everyone carries it

[10:57] on their skin. Occasionally it enters

[10:59] the body through a cut causing an

[11:01] infection easily treated with

[11:03] antibiotics but not if it is a resistant

[11:06] strain. Until now, strains resistant to

[11:08] the usual antibiotics struck only in

[11:11] hospitals and nursing homes. But none of

[11:13] the four children was sick or in the

[11:15] hospital, and officials say there is no

[11:17] connection between the cases. A

[11:19] 16-month-old girl and a one-year-old boy

[11:21] from rural North Dakota, a 13-year-old

[11:24] girl from rural Minnesota, and a

[11:26] 7-year-old girl from an urban area of

[11:28] Minnesota.

[11:29] >> All the children started out with rather

[11:31] common simple infections with staff

[11:34] orius bacteria. However, because the

[11:37] treatment was not effective against

[11:39] these particular strains, the illnesses

[11:42] progressed, ultimately involved a number

[11:45] of organs in the body. The children

[11:47] developed severe cases of shock and

[11:49] ultimately died. The children were among

[11:52] 200 cases discovered in those two states

[11:54] in the past 2 years. While there were no

[11:56] other deaths, many scientists believe

[11:58] these cases sound the alarm for a

[12:01] nationwide danger. In fact, the

[12:03] resistant bacteria struck in Washington

[12:05] DC. Last July, Betty Francis, who works

[12:08] for NBC News, had a simple infection in

[12:11] her elbow. But despite antibiotic

[12:13] treatment, it got worse until she

[12:15] finally had to be hospitalized.

[12:17] >> I think it took him about 4 days to

[12:19] realize that the antibiotic that they

[12:21] normally use for that infection wasn't

[12:23] working.

[12:25] Doctors saved her with the one

[12:26] high-powered expensive antibiotic called

[12:29] venkcomy that still eliminates most

[12:31] staff infections if doctors know to use

[12:34] it. What is most frightening is that in

[12:36] hospitals, super germs are appearing,

[12:38] resistant even to that drug of last

[12:40] resort, literally turning back the clock

[12:43] to the days before antibiotics. For

[12:46] those patients, uh, they're really back

[12:49] in 1936,

[12:51] uh, in the sense that they have to

[12:53] depend on their host defense mechanisms,

[12:55] their normal immunity to survive the

[12:58] infection. Uh, and that works often, but

[13:01] sometimes does not.

[13:02] >> Doctors see the deaths of the four

[13:04] children as a wake-up call for one of

[13:06] the major emerging health threats of the

[13:08] modern age.

[13:10] >> Robert Bazelle, NBC News, New York.

[13:13] >> Also, there's this. Too often lately,

[13:15] parents with a sick child ask

[13:17] immediately for antibiotics. But there

[13:18] are new worries about overprescribing

[13:20] what can be and used to be wonder drugs.

[13:23] Dr. Julie Gerbering is the director of

[13:26] hospital infections program at the

[13:27] Centers for Disease Control. She says

[13:30] this new staff infection threat could be

[13:32] a wake-up call. Tonight, Dr. Dr.

[13:34] Gerbering in her own words,

[13:38] >> this is a rare problem fortunately right

[13:40] now to have such serious infections

[13:42] caused by these resistant strains, but

[13:44] it is important and it does tell us that

[13:46] we need to get the word out to the

[13:48] physicians who take care of these kids

[13:50] to make sure that they offer the right

[13:52] treatments.

[13:53] Parents need to know that antibiotics

[13:55] can be harmful to their kids and you

[13:58] have to make the decision about when to

[14:00] use an antibiotic with the help of a

[14:02] physician who really is the objective

[14:04] expert and can sort out when is it a

[14:07] staff infection? When is it a common

[14:09] cold or a viral infection for which

[14:11] antibiotics really shouldn't be used? We

[14:14] kind of live in a society where we reach

[14:16] for the bottle of pills every time

[14:18] there's a problem. For some of the uh

[14:21] common infectious diseases, antibiotics

[14:24] are not the right thing to do and we end

[14:26] up with bacteria that are resistant. For

[14:29] right now, I think the one thing we know

[14:31] for sure we can do is to use antibiotics

[14:34] as judiciously as possible. And by

[14:37] judicious, I mean use them for

[14:39] infectious diseases where we know they

[14:41] help and avoid using them for colds or

[14:44] other problems where they clearly are of

[14:45] no benefit.

[14:47] >> That was Dr. Julie Gerbing of the

[14:49] Centers for Disease Control tonight in

[14:51] her own words, taking a look at Wall

[14:53] Street today. In just a moment, when we

[14:55] come back, what really happens to your

[14:57] money when you deposit a check? And

[14:59] later on, Wrestlemania amateur style.

[15:02] What gyms from coast to coast are now

[15:05] filled with guys who just want to get

[15:07] into the act?

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[17:41] Sunday, George W. and privacy. What's

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[17:46] know? Jerry Ferrell, Orin Hatch, and

[17:48] John Kasich on Meet the Press.

[17:51] >> Get more of the Today Show with later

[17:53] today coming in September.

[17:56] After an active week, now our look at

[17:57] Wall Street today. Trading was light

[17:59] with a lot of investors waiting for

[18:01] Tuesday. That's when the Federal Reserve

[18:03] meets and a decision comes on another

[18:05] possible interest rate hike. But stocks

[18:07] were up just the same. The Dow gained

[18:10] almost 137. NASDAQ was up just under 27.

[18:14] Now for the week, the Dow gained 127

[18:17] points. NASDAQ in the end after 5 days

[18:19] was up 10 and a half points. Tonight,

[18:22] it's your money. You're paying it out by

[18:25] check, but it's not money yet until the

[18:27] bank says it is often days later. Why

[18:30] does it take so long for a check to

[18:33] clear these days? And what is the bank

[18:35] doing with that money in the meantime?

[18:37] We get some answers tonight from NBC

[18:38] News chief financial correspondent Mike

[18:40] Jensen.

[18:42] With a big expense coming up, his

[18:44] daughter's wedding. John Ellis did what

[18:46] so many others do. Went to his local

[18:48] bank in Florida and deposited checks

[18:51] from his investment account at

[18:53] Credential, $11,000,

[18:55] >> to make what I thought was a routine

[18:57] deposit.

[18:58] >> At that moment, his money became part of

[19:00] a river of $140 billion worth of checks

[19:04] shuttling from bank to bank. What

[19:06] happened to John Ellis? The day after he

[19:09] made the switch, he confirmed $11,000

[19:12] had been transferred out of his account

[19:14] at Credential.

[19:15] >> So, I did not have access to that money

[19:17] anymore.

[19:18] >> But was it available at his nation's

[19:20] bank branch? Hardly. He was told he

[19:22] couldn't touch his own money for a full

[19:25] 2 weeks. That seems long, but it's

[19:28] perfectly legal. We call it clearing a

[19:30] check, but bankers call it the float. It

[19:33] can be maddening because, as most people

[19:35] know, your money's in limbo. You can't

[19:37] touch it, withdraw it, or write a check

[19:40] on it. Consumer advocate Edmir Zwinsky

[19:43] says it's a ripoff.

[19:44] >> Banks pick consumer pockets to the tune

[19:46] of 5 to10 billion a year in fees and

[19:50] interest earned on the float on money

[19:52] that belongs to consumers. That's

[19:54] outrageous.

[19:55] >> Bankers say it's reasonable that the

[19:57] typical check clears in just a day or

[19:59] two, and there's a good reason if it's

[20:00] longer. Congress and the Federal Reserve

[20:03] have given banks extra time to um hold

[20:06] checks to avoid fraud.

[20:08] >> But Mirwinsky says the system penalizes

[20:11] honest customers whose checks are good.

[20:14] >> 99.9%

[20:16] of all checks from regular customers

[20:19] clear.

[20:20] >> John Ellis was a regular customer, but

[20:22] his problems with Nation's Bank went

[20:24] from bad to worse. The day after the

[20:27] bank had promised his money would be

[20:29] available to him after that two-week

[20:31] wait. He tried to cash a check and it

[20:34] bounced. And then what happened? Ellis

[20:37] says the bank tried to charge him $29

[20:39] for an overdraft even though his account

[20:42] had plenty of money. He says the bank

[20:44] backed down when he complained. Nation's

[20:47] Bank refused to go on camera or to talk

[20:50] about John Ellis, but said there are

[20:52] lots of bogus checks in Florida and it

[20:54] does not make money on the float. But

[20:57] John Ellis says so what?

[20:59] >> We live in an electronic society today

[21:02] and it shouldn't take uh 14 12 to 14

[21:05] days to clear a check. At any given

[21:07] moment, 360 million checks out of reach

[21:11] because of a banking system critics say

[21:14] is antiquated and often abused. Mike

[21:17] Jensen, NBC News, New York.

[21:21] In Boise, Idaho today, a ceremony

[21:24] marking a truly great comeback in this

[21:26] country. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbot

[21:28] announced the paragan falcon has been

[21:31] taken off the US endangered species

[21:33] list. Pesticides, especially DDT, did so

[21:37] much damage to the falcons, they were

[21:39] down to just 39 breeding pairs. That was

[21:41] back in 1970. Now there are over 1,600

[21:45] pairs across the country. The paragrin

[21:48] is the fastest bird in the world, by the

[21:50] way. It can reach a top speed of 200 m

[21:52] an hour. We'll be right back here

[21:54] tonight with wrestling's next generation

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[24:33] Coming up at 6:00, new information in

[24:35] the case of a man accused of killing his

[24:37] own baby. We will hear for the first

[24:38] time the frantic call for help. Also,

[24:41] one of Nashville's long-standing

[24:42] churches, heavily damaged after a fire

[24:44] caused by lightning, is set to reopen

[24:47] its doors. We will show you the results

[24:49] of rebuilding. The scene at 6 is next.

[24:54] >> The governor of Minnesota, Jesse

[24:55] Ventura, is busy this weekend. It has

[24:57] nothing to do with governing. It has a

[24:59] lot to do with show business. He'll be

[25:00] acting as a guest referee in a pro-

[25:03] wrestling extravaganza called Summer

[25:05] Slam. The World Wrestling Federation is

[25:08] paying him $100,000 for the job, which

[25:10] he is donating to charity. But he could

[25:12] rake in as much as a million or half a

[25:15] million dollars in video royalties. He

[25:17] won't say what he'll do with that

[25:19] windfall. Professional wrestling isn't

[25:21] just prime time TV anymore. It's going

[25:24] local, as in a gym near you. Here with

[25:26] that, NBC's Roger O'Neal.

[25:33] >> If there's a ring to be thrown out of

[25:37] or a folding chair to be hit with,

[25:40] you found the world of wrestling. THREE

[25:43] AND TWO.

[25:45] >> Where in the minor, the bush leagues of

[25:47] pro recklessly, there's even more action

[25:49] in the stands

[25:51] than between the ropes.

[25:54] No one calls it sport anymore. More like

[25:56] testosterone theater with living action

[25:59] figures and comic book plots. Bodies are

[26:02] props.

[26:03] >> Come on, John. Get up. Pain or painful

[26:05] acting brings cheese,

[26:09] >> but it's enormously successful and

[26:11] growing.

[26:13] We're live.

[26:14] >> In the big leagues of professional

[26:16] wrestling, a billion dollar a year

[26:18] business now. 8 hours of TV time a week,

[26:21] mostly on cable, but 7.8 million

[26:23] viewers. Million dollar salaries for

[26:26] these wrestler actors. The bravado, the

[26:29] fireworks, the girls, not the wrestling

[26:31] are the most important parts of the

[26:33] show. Indiana University professor

[26:35] Walter Gant studied a year's worth of

[26:37] wrestling programs. After commercials,

[26:40] >> he left with about an hour and a half of

[26:41] air time. On average, there were about

[26:43] 36 minutes devoted to wrestling. That

[26:46] meant that there was about 1 hour

[26:48] devoted to laying the story line, giving

[26:50] the fans a reason to root for or against

[26:53] the wrestlers.

[26:54] >> Where do they come from?

[26:57] Most from thousands of minor league

[26:59] wrestling schools. The Palace of Pain

[27:01] near San Diego to name one. Here,

[27:04] wrestling wannabes learn their craft,

[27:06] moves, and falls for sure, but more

[27:08] important, the critical, "Oh, that

[27:10] hurts" look and communications 101,

[27:13] working the crowd.

[27:15] TNT aka Cory Van Cleik has been added

[27:18] for eight years. A so-called he in the

[27:21] ring, the bad guy. When his game face is

[27:24] on, he's an animal,

[27:26] >> which is what we're set up for. But by

[27:28] day, a softspoken, easygoing guy

[27:30] teaching the P's and Q's of good

[27:32] customer relations to new small business

[27:34] owners.

[27:36] >> Most of my friends who have ever come to

[27:37] see me wrestle are absolutely shocked

[27:39] the first time I go from uh kind of

[27:41] being the teddy bear in the day to the

[27:42] grizzly bear at night. Uh but I love it.

[27:45] >> He must for all the abuse in the minor

[27:48] leagues, a 30 maybe $50 paycheck is the

[27:51] norm. A lot of wrestlers like Alcatres

[27:54] use what's called the choke slam to

[27:56] finish an opponent off. But remember,

[27:58] this is theater. It's rehearsed and

[28:00] planned. What worries a lot of wrestlers

[28:02] is that as the sport has grown in

[28:04] popularity, a lot of youngsters are now

[28:06] trying to choke slams in their own

[28:08] backyard.

[28:10] >> It's the new rage. Teens trying

[28:13] everything heroes do on TV. Harmless

[28:16] most of the time. People can't seem to

[28:18] get enough of this entertainment.

[28:20] Whether it's wrestler turned governor or

[28:22] a I just want to be like him upandcomer.

[28:26] Roger O'Neal, NBC News San Diego.

[28:30] >> And that is NBC Nightly News for this

[28:32] Friday. Don't forget Dine tonight at

[28:34] 9:00. And I hope to see you later this

[28:36] evening for the news on MSNBC on cable

[28:39] at 9:00 and again on CNBC each evening

[28:42] at 10:00. I'm Brian Williams reporting

[28:46] tonight from New York. Good night

[28:48] everyone.

[28:57] Nightly News is a presentation of NBC

[29:00] News. More Americans watch NBC News than

[29:03] any other news organization in the

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