NBC Nightly News - 1996-02-26 - 1 of 2

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Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] President Clinton tightens the economic

[0:03] screws on Cuba, stopping short of

[0:04] military action for the shooting down of

[0:06] two light planes on Saturday. NBC News

[0:08] and Depth will tell you about those

[0:10] Cuban groups, their passions, their

[0:12] provocative ways. In California, Hang

[0:15] No, who survived the Cambodian killing

[0:17] fields and won an Oscar killed by

[0:19] mysterious gunshots.

[0:21] And on Healthw Watch tonight, the brain,

[0:23] how it behaves during a coma, how

[0:26] science is now altering that behavior.

[0:28] From NBC News, this is NBC Nightly News

[0:33] with Tom Bro.

[0:36] >> Good evening. President Clinton late

[0:37] today announced a series of moves

[0:39] against Cuba for the shooting down of

[0:40] two light planes, but he stopped well

[0:43] short of ordering any military action

[0:45] against Fidel Castro. Those planes from

[0:47] the Miami exile organization called

[0:49] Brothers to the Rescue were on a

[0:51] propaganda mission to Cuba, not for the

[0:53] first time when they were shot down

[0:55] Saturday by Cuban MiGs. We have two

[0:57] reports tonight from Washington and also

[0:59] from Havana. We begin with NBC's Brian

[1:02] Williams at the White House.

[1:05] >> Condemning Cuba for killing civilian

[1:07] pilots, the president late today

[1:09] promised retaliation. We must be clear.

[1:12] This shooting of civilian aircraft out

[1:15] of the air was a flagrant violation of

[1:19] international law. It is wrong and the

[1:22] United States will not tolerate it. All

[1:25] morning long, advisers arrived at the

[1:27] White House to go over the options. The

[1:29] president decided on US retaliation,

[1:32] starting with the United Nations

[1:33] Security Council statement condemning

[1:35] the attack and compensation for the

[1:37] victim's families, restricting the

[1:39] movement of some Cubans, mostly

[1:41] diplomats, within the United States,

[1:43] suspending all commercial charter

[1:45] flights between the US and Cuba, backing

[1:47] most provisions of a bill in Congress

[1:49] designed to seal off foreign investment

[1:51] in Cuba. Saturday's attack was an

[1:54] appalling reminder of the nature of the

[1:57] Cuban regime. Repressive, violent,

[2:01] scornful of international law. It

[2:04] started sometime before 2:00 p.m.

[2:06] Saturday when three small Cessna

[2:08] Skymaster aircraft took off from Opaaka

[2:11] Airport near Miami. At 2:57, one of the

[2:14] pilots from the group Brothers to the

[2:15] Rescue tells the control tower in Havana

[2:18] of their intention to fly into airspace

[2:20] south of the 24th parallel. The pilot is

[2:22] warned of possible danger and at 3:09,

[2:25] two Cuban military jets are airborne. At

[2:28] 3:24, the two MiGs receive permission to

[2:31] destroy. The two small planes are shut

[2:33] down within 7 minutes of each other.

[2:35] Cuba insists the planes were within its

[2:37] airspace. The US does not agree. Last

[2:41] August, the US government warned

[2:42] travelers of Cuba's threat that any boat

[2:45] from abroad can be sunk and any airplane

[2:47] downed. The State Department said it

[2:49] takes this statement seriously. The

[2:52] actions announced by the president today

[2:54] don't come near what some say is

[2:55] required to send Fidel Castro a stronger

[2:58] message.

[2:58] >> He has down two civilian planes with

[3:01] American flag, American citizen on

[3:03] board, engaged in a humanitarian

[3:05] mission, and we consider this an act of

[3:07] war.

[3:07] >> The option of a military response was

[3:10] discussed and then rejected, but aids

[3:12] here don't mind the Cuban government

[3:14] knowing it's still an option. Brian

[3:16] Williams, NBC News, the White House.

[3:19] >> This is Ed Rabel in Havana. Outwardly

[3:21] tonight, Cuba remains calm, but the

[3:24] Castro government is accusing the

[3:26] Clinton administration of lying about

[3:28] Cuba's legal right to shoot down the

[3:30] plane.

[3:31] >> We are in the middle of a situation

[3:33] that we didn't create.

[3:36] We are

[3:39] listening and following statements that

[3:42] are full of lies. Still, somewhere on

[3:46] this island, Cuba is thought to be

[3:48] hiding a spy. The man US officials

[3:50] believe infiltrated Brothers to the

[3:52] Rescue and set up the four pilots who

[3:54] were shot down and killed on Saturday.

[3:57] Juan Pablo Roque, who flew missions for

[4:00] Brothers to the Rescue, is the man under

[4:02] scrutiny. Earlier today, FBI agents were

[4:05] at his home in Miami to question his

[4:07] wife on his whereabouts. He disappeared

[4:10] from Miami several days ago and sources

[4:12] tell NBC News he arrived here in Havana

[4:15] on Friday, the day before the shootown.

[4:18] A former MiG pilot in the Cuban Air

[4:20] Force, Ro defected in 1992, swimming to

[4:24] the US base at Guantanamo at the eastern

[4:26] end of the island to find asylum

[4:29] ultimately in Miami. He even wrote a

[4:31] book called Deserter for the Foundation,

[4:33] accusing Fidel Castro of treason against

[4:35] the Cuban nation. Today, Aaron refused

[4:38] to confirm or deny that Ro was Cuba's

[4:41] spy.

[4:42] >> We will at the appropriate time provide

[4:46] you with more details of those things.

[4:49] >> How surprising is all this? US

[4:51] intelligence officials told NBC News

[4:53] months ago they suspected Cuba's spy

[4:56] apparatus had infiltrated every Cuban

[4:58] exile group in the United States, and

[5:00] that certainly included Brothers to the

[5:02] Rescue. Ed Rabel, NBC News, Havana.

[5:06] And late tonight, the Pentagon announced

[5:08] that it has now called off the search

[5:09] for any survivors from the shooting down

[5:11] of those two small planes, concluding

[5:13] that no one was able to survive. More on

[5:16] the small group of Cuban exiles who drew

[5:18] the United States into this major

[5:20] international incident. Who are they?

[5:22] What's their mission, their passions?

[5:24] That's NBC News in depth later here on

[5:26] NBC Nightly News. Israel tonight is

[5:29] again a country in mourning and in a

[5:32] rage. More terrorist bombings, including

[5:35] a bus in Jerusalem, killed 25 yesterday,

[5:38] including two young Americans. The

[5:40] bodies of the Americans who were

[5:42] studying in Israel, are being flown home

[5:44] tonight. Matthew Eisenfeld of West

[5:46] Hartford, Connecticut, and 23-year-old

[5:48] Sarah Dooker of Tene, New Jersey. They

[5:51] were engaged to be married. NBC's

[5:53] Richard Roth now with more on the

[5:55] bombing and the consequences.

[5:58] Tension snapped in Jerusalem when a car

[6:00] plowed into a crowded bus stop, killing

[6:02] a woman and injuring more than 20. The

[6:05] driver was a Palestinian American

[6:06] visiting the West Bank. But police don't

[6:09] think the crash was a terror attack.

[6:11] They think the driver simply lost

[6:13] control. Still, when he stepped out of

[6:15] his car, the driver was shot dead by

[6:17] civilians who were angry or frightened

[6:20] after yesterday's suicide bombings. As

[6:23] funerals were held today, the renewed

[6:25] terrorism had Israelis wondering if the

[6:27] peace process is worth it.

[6:29] >> The aim of this talks was to stop

[6:34] the death of people, Israeli people, and

[6:37] we see that it doesn't help.

[6:39] >> School children today bowed their heads

[6:41] for a moment of silence and candles

[6:43] blossomed in a makeshift shrine to the

[6:46] 25 people who were killed. The

[6:48] government ordered a security clampdown,

[6:50] closing the borders with Gaza and the

[6:52] West Bank. But Israelis were asking if

[6:54] the bombings could have been prevented.

[6:57] They may have been foreshadowed last

[6:58] week on the West Bank when a symbolic

[7:01] Israeli bus was the centerpiece of

[7:03] Palestinian scorn. Last month in Gaza,

[7:06] the symbolism was even starker. A stage

[7:09] play by Hamas about a suicide bombing

[7:12] that mocked the death of Jews. Hamas has

[7:15] never disavowed

[7:18] violence. Their attitude is very

[7:21] problematic.

[7:22] >> Tonight, Israelis were in the streets

[7:24] questioning the peace process.

[7:29] Prime Minister Perez had just told

[7:31] Parliament his government still

[7:32] committed to pursuing peace, but there's

[7:35] no question he's under new pressure.

[7:37] Now, an opinion poll since the bombings

[7:39] shows a sharp drop in his popular

[7:41] support and elections here are just 3

[7:44] months away. Richard Roth, NBC News, Tel

[7:47] Aviv.

[7:49] And in Britain tonight, there stepped up

[7:51] security as well for the royal family.

[7:53] Heavily armed troops replacing the

[7:55] familiar redcoated guards at Buckingham

[7:57] Palace. This after plans to attack the

[7:59] royal family reportedly were found in

[8:01] the home of the IRA gerilla killed last

[8:04] week when the bomb that he was carrying

[8:06] exploded on a London bus. When NBC

[8:10] Nightly News continues tonight, a man

[8:12] who fought the bloody horrors in

[8:13] Cambodia murdered in Los Angeles.

[8:17] >> To die like this is ludicrous and uh it

[8:19] is a very desperate indictment of uh the

[8:22] society that within which it happened.

[8:25] Have the killing fields come here? And

[8:27] still to come tonight, a drift in space.

[8:29] What caused NASA's $400 million shuttle

[8:32] experiment to go so wrong?

[8:36] >> I must have ate a gallon of chili.

[8:38] >> You I ate a herd of bread.

[8:41] >> Well, the onion rings were greasy.

[8:43] >> My reffried beans were heavy.

[8:45] >> Cheese fries.

[8:46] >> Garlic bread.

[8:48] >> My lanta.

[8:48] >> My lanta.

[8:50] >> Tums Ultra.

[8:51] >> Tums works fast to help knock out

[8:53] heartburn. And while menta liquid is

[8:54] aluminum and magnesium,

[8:56] >> thumbs ultra has calcium.

[8:58] >> Something my body needs anyway. I like

[9:00] that.

[9:00] >> Your body? What about my body?

[9:06] >> You know what? I hate pain. That's why I

[9:09] love Asper Cream. When I get minor

[9:11] muscle aches, I just rub it in for fast

[9:13] relief that lasts for hours. And it's

[9:15] odor-free. Why live with pain? You're

[9:18] going to love it. Asper Cream does not

[9:19] contain aspirin. Patty, I got the wrong

[9:22] cheese.

[9:23] >> Real Italian meals don't begin.

[9:25] >> What were you thinking?

[9:26] >> Without the Parmesan cheese that's

[9:28] always 100% Parmesan. No fillers. Craft

[9:31] 100% grated Parmesan cheese. Now you can

[9:35] eat.

[9:36] >> I'm on the road 345 days out of the

[9:38] year. And luckily for me, everywhere I

[9:40] go, there's a mailboxes etc. an office

[9:42] on the road if you will. I drive a 27 ft

[9:45] long hot dog on wheels. That's my

[9:47] company car. Mailboxes etc. is our link

[9:50] to our corporate headquarters. This is

[9:51] the place to get all your mail, do lots

[9:53] of copies, and get all your faxes, and

[9:55] anytime you need to ship or receive

[9:56] something, that's where you go.

[9:58] >> Mailboxes, etc. It's not what we do,

[10:01] it's how we do it. I relish the service

[10:03] I get from MBE. That's no balloon.

[10:07] >> In Los Angeles tonight, police are

[10:09] investigating the murder of Hong No. He

[10:11] is the Oscar-winning actor who before

[10:13] coming to this country survived torture

[10:15] in Cambodia's death camps, only now to

[10:18] be found dead outside of his California

[10:20] apartment this morning. NBC's George

[10:23] Lewis in Los Angeles tonight.

[10:26] The actor's body was found last night in

[10:28] an alley behind his apartment. Police

[10:31] said he had been shot twice in the upper

[10:33] torso and that robbery did not appear to

[10:35] be the motive.

[10:36] >> If the wall keeps going like this, the

[10:39] future could be very bad. Dr. Hang No,

[10:42] who was a surgeon in Cambodia gained

[10:44] fame in this country as an actor in the

[10:46] 1984 movie The Killing Fields.

[10:49] In it, he portrayed Dit Prawn, a

[10:51] photographer for the New York Times, who

[10:53] escaped from the brutal communist Camar

[10:55] Rouge forces. The story closely

[10:58] paralleled Hang No's own escape from

[11:00] Cambodia. Today, the producer who

[11:03] discovered him was shocked at the news

[11:05] of his murder. For a man to survive what

[11:07] Hang survived and to live the life that

[11:09] he's lived and to do what he's done and

[11:11] given what he's given for his life to

[11:13] end this way is it's costly.

[11:16] >> Hangor was active in helping his fellow

[11:18] Cambodian refugees and in speaking out

[11:20] against the communists in his homeland.

[11:23] Sources in the Los Angeles Cambodian

[11:24] community who refused to be interviewed

[11:26] on camera said they believe the killing

[11:28] could have been a political hit job,

[11:30] that the actor's social activism could

[11:33] have cost him his life. But police say

[11:35] they have no evidence of a political

[11:37] assassination so far.

[11:39] >> We haven't established anything like

[11:40] that. Uh we have received lots of calls

[11:42] from people who were acquainted with the

[11:44] victim.

[11:45] >> Some of those friends and acquaintances

[11:46] showed up this afternoon to place

[11:48] flowers at the scene of the shooting,

[11:51] memorializing a man who survived the

[11:53] killing fields of Cambodia and used his

[11:55] international acclaim to denounce

[11:57] violence in his homeland, only to be

[12:00] gunned down in an American alley. George

[12:03] Lewis, NBC News, Los Angeles.

[12:07] >> In other news tonight, the two top

[12:09] officials of a secret spy agency were

[12:11] fired today for mismanagement weeks

[12:14] after investigators discovered that they

[12:16] had squirreled away a billion dollars in

[12:18] appropriated money in a secret agency

[12:21] account. None of this money was

[12:22] misspent, but the two were blamed for

[12:25] hurting the AY's credibility. Jeffrey

[12:27] Harris and Jimmy Hill ran the National

[12:30] Reconnaissance Office, which oversees

[12:32] spy satellites. It's an agency so secret

[12:35] the government didn't even acknowledge

[12:36] it existed until 1992. On Wall Street

[12:39] today, the roller coaster ride continued

[12:41] with the Dow losing more than 65 points

[12:44] in very heavy trading. The Nasdaq was

[12:46] down as well. When we come back, NBC

[12:49] News in depth tonight. The small band of

[12:51] Cuban Americans who lost four of their

[12:53] own and created an international flash

[12:56] point. Who are they? Humanitarians or

[12:59] purposely stirring tensions? We'll have

[13:01] answers tonight in depth.

[13:07] >> A sparkling ship on crystal waters is

[13:09] coming. Absolutely gorgeous. It was so

[13:12] much fun.

[13:12] >> The perfect lobster is coming.

[13:14] >> Our waiters, they would do