The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour

our mr vishal and ohio's nice and tight listen to lead belly i can say that that person is now in the tank oh yeah for urban fa fa fa fa fa urban burbs good evening these are the stories making news today in

today's democratic primaries mondale is leading in maryland the north carolina hard in indiana well ohio is very close the soviet union said its boycotting the los angeles olympic games leading banks raised their prime rates and the white house blamed the federal reserve board libyan troops fought off a heavy attack on the headquarters of strongman moammar gadhafi in quebec city a canadian soldier with a machine gun opened fire in the provincial assembly with heavy casualties john myers often on duty workers in washington on our lead story the soviet pull out of the los angeles olympic games we'll examine why they want to play we'll look at the impact of the decision on east west relations and on the organizers and the athletes who've been getting ready for the twenty second olympiad and on the jump in interest rates banking specialist felix rohatyn joins us to explain the impact it will have the macneil lehrer newshour is funded by at and

t the corporation for public broadcasting and the station and other public television stations early returns four states that held democratic presidential primaries today give walter mondale an apparent victory in two of those states north carolina and maryland well two other states ohio and indiana show an extremely tight race between mondale and senator gary hart beginning first with the results from indiana with seven percent of the precincts reporting there is a tie at this point that went to mondale and mr harteveldt the forty three percent of the vote jesse jackson trailing behind with twelve percent in ohio we hope to have ohio's results for you here is with again with seven percent of precincts reporting i'm not sure those figures are right if they are the same the same percentages as we saw in indiana extremely tight race

that high at this point between mondale apart each with forty three percent jesse jackson behind with twelve percent in north carolina with eighteen percent of the precincts reporting <unk> mondale is ahead he's been projected to win here you've got forty percent of the vote to gary hart's thirty four percent jesse jackson's fifteen percent and finally in maryland with just two percent of the precincts reporting system mondale has a fairly substantial lead forty five percent to gary hart thirty eight percent and jesse jackson's twelve percent will bring new further results this evening as we get them robin the soviet union declared today it would stay away from the los angeles olympic games saying us authorities had made attendance impossible the decision was announced by the soviet national olympic committee after months of complaints are us mainland of the games there was speculation that moscow's east european allies might join the boycott possibly

later this month that is moscow announcement repeated a soviet charge that the us would not insure the security and rights so the olympic athletes it said quote extremist organizations would create a noble conditions for soviet athletes and claimed that these organizations have a direct connivance of the american a father's son in state television gave the decision low priority near the end of its evening newscast western diplomats noting that the soviets were planning the participation was impossible said moscow was depicting the situation is quite different from the us boycott of the games in nineteen eighty eight in protest over the soviet invasion of afghanistan today's announcement came just minutes after american olympic officials celebrated the arrival in new york of the olympic flame which was flown in from greats relay runners including relatives of american olympic greats jesse owens engine for carry the torch on the first leg of its journey across the country to los angeles today the reagan administration was sharply critical of the soviet decision calling it a blatant political

act for which there is no justification at the white house spokesman larry speaks said the decision means that the soviets had disregarded the feelings of most nations and millions of people the world over the olympics be conducted in a non political atmosphere that speech said he didn't think the boycott would affect the spirit of the games which he said would go on as it has for twenty two previous events speech said the us government and the los angeles olympic organizing committee have done everything possible to accommodate the soviets we went the last mile he said to meet soviet concerns about arrangements in los angeles and we have made those concerns at the state department spokesman john hughes said the conscience of the united states is clear we have nothing to apologize for united states are clearly regrets lee soviet disregard for the views of people all over the world who have hoped that the olympics so it would go forward

in a non political manner of assessment course the police service have been hindered by the united states or to spending freely in the olympics is a chart utterly without merit we think this is a blatant political action for which there is no real justification by the soviets the head of the los angeles olympic committee was in washington today for a meeting with president reagan in the white house peter ueberroth told reporters afterwards that the soviet walkout was related to the us decision to boycott the nineteen eighty olympic games in moscow judges may be very disappointed the decision will have a decision today we're very disappointed about it appears that we're paying the price for nineteen eighty

again the ones that are really athletes there's a lot of us actually provide that does not want the chance to compete against the very best of the athletes in a moscow suffered because they could not compete against a very boston we will use every ounce of energy providers this decision and a half of the athletes of the world so that the games can go on the best possible competition asked if he thought the boycott would spread to other east bloc nations you brought said the olympic committee would work very hard to see that every nation comes to the games robin at the american olympic training center in colorado springs the mood was one of the egyptian athletes and officials at the center agreed that a lack of soviet participation taints the international flavor of the event that raises questions about the strange blend of politics and athletics which the games have become going home and went to colorado springs to sample the reaction is well of course was very

disappointed to hear the soviet union have elected not to participate in the games colonel don muller is the executive director of the us olympic committee here in colorado springs colorado the side of the us olympic training center he expressed his belief but the soviets were not justified and pulling out of the games because of the perceived threat to the athletes as early as the security considerations are concerned the president of the united states the los angeles olympic organizing committee then everyone involved has indicated that ample protection of the health and welfare of the apple leads from our nation's would be provided during the games and despite the soviet announcement training goes on with the rest of the soviet bloc nations fall soon and boycott the olympics and the athletes would suffer thirty lady are members of the olympic judo

team you know that's a nice touch to the same way you do it is to complete absence of course if you care about the attention they represented the best way they can do at this point is the senate's passage and you know somalis are not the jesus of the things we do have good results and seventies prestigious i mean as opposed to natchez mississippi was the athlete and the games this year will suffer at the soviets thought but darren miller also was worried about the long term affect politics will have on the olympics well in my judgment sir we would have to be a local naive not to recognize that there has banned political intrusion into the games for

some period of time and i think it's a test it most withstand and withstanding the test should become stronger in new york former treasury secretary william simon who is chairman of the united states olympic committee said that today soviet decision was not a response to the american boycott of the nineteen eighty games in moscow simon also rejected the soviet stated reasons for not participating in this year's games besides the fact that their athletes would secure is ridiculous of their athletes' i'm coming over the past year competing all over the united states just a month ago they were in colorado springs their wrestlers and and the enthusiastic courteous response on the part of the citizenry out they're packed audiences to see their great rescuers applauding every great move the russians made in them that same thing in los angeles or without it sentences gaza and on these jars i say are baseless so when you look at that the litany of oil demagogic charges if you will

you have to reach the conclusion that it was a political decision i think this is too big a decision to be to be tit for tat clearly there was still a degree of animosity among the poor the soviets about our non participation i will say at the same time that there was an embarrassment a part of ourselves because we deplore the use of politics knew people were always getting into constant and always has been and probably always will be a principal target of the soviet complaints about the olympics has been a group organize specifically with the aim of battling soviet participation it was formed shortly after the soviet shot down korean airliner's flight or seven last fall its organizers a thirty eight year old advertising executive from costa mesa california named david ball setter he joins us tonight from public station casey et los angeles are you happy with the decision mr rosser well we're happy with the decision from the point of view that we had originally

advocated that they be banned or to voluntarily withdraw however were unhappy because we have been preparing for them to be here by organizing a number of safe houses in other efforts to aid and assist defectors should they come here and we have not nearly a hundred demonstrations planned focusing on human rights violations and things of that nature so that's a little disappointing what are expectations do you have it so that athletes were a birth defect like for well for more we could tell based on communications that we were receiving be from behind the iron curtain and other communications that we've had going back there are indicating that we had a support organize a shame here at an assist and the fact is whether spectators are athletes we felt it was going to be in the range of two hundred or so from the entire eastern bloc you weren't any reason to think it was fear all of that possible is possible defections which are caused this decision worth living on this decision today so i think it's the bottom line the soviet olympic committee chairman

last week said that if they drop out it's going to be because of the band the soviets coalition and i think there's three news the official name of your group correct kirk that's correct and we had advocated a tin supported the factors we were supportive of rhea credit that re accreditation to radio free europe and we had planned a number of demonstrations including billboards aerial signs in these kind of things the soviets could not cope with it would turn their anticipated propaganda plame into probably a prune this summer part of the senate said in their statement that the columnist extremist groups and i guess they refer you to your growth that it had the direct connivance of the us government did you have any encouragement or cooperation from the reagan administration no law we have not been endorsed by the reagan administration or a goldfish or governmental body and coarse maybe we feel a little art chung because the soviets keep saying that we've never had it birddog were made up of a very respectable a group of people where

hundred and sixty five members from ethnic religious political social educational and veterans organizations in the country and by no means are a group that can be easily discredited did you have any act of discouragement from washington than anyone from the administration tried to stop you doing what you are doing no absolutely not matter of fact i would say kind of to the contrary on the world we were in touch with aerial facials in washington regarding this but more than once or facials came out said we do have a right to free speech in this country and if the soviets were going to be embarrassed by that will then soviet that i think that's why they decided not to come they cannot cope with what we have proposed well will be here and so i think that's the bottom line they decided to withdraw did you feel i'm all that was not overt support that you have the tacit encouragement of the administration not really because we attempted to get support in the past over august three four months ago and that the administration was very adamant about the fact

mr deaver an administration now and others i think took a very direct position against this although we're had lobbied a number of agencies in washington dc to prevent the soviets from being granted a special privilege of bringing they are twenty five planes in the cruise ship because we felt that these buying these were the landing rights they were giving special landing rights to air a flawed and the permission to bullets a cruise ship to house the athletes they're in in a forgotten where the near near los angeles that's correct we we oppose that a lot in long beach rose yes that's correct and you oppose that yes and we lobbied in congress on that we lobbied state department defense department white house and if we lost on that issue receipt does it concern you at all the impact that this may have now aung the american athletes who as you just heard will be denied the competition thousand soviet athletes

and that it may have a very serious financial impact on the burns well i don't think it bothers us from that point of view because we saw this as a human rights situation and the soviet bloc athletes would be coming here in some of would want to defect and we were insisting that well on american soil that they be allowed to defect and that all international human rights agreements be honored no matter who was here and so i think if you put human rights ahead of a temporary sporting situation i think most people on our side somebody wants to defect they should be allowed to and we were just offering support there may be temporary disappointed in this but on the other side of the coin there's still going to be the largest in their big event in olympic history in addition to naming the western nations winning a few more medals which it won her for a change are mr boser thank you will come back the state department official who has been working with the international olympic committee is edward due

wednesday a former republican congressman from illinois three two wednesday became counselor to the state department in nineteen eighty three and always surprise was the ministrations surprised by this or yes we failed as always well aren't we have been very cooperative with the ioc host committee los angeles and truly work hard to accommodate every visiting team and we were actually made the most news payment do you think it's a final decision i hope not but i know that we have no input into any possible review soviet decision and they presumably the highest levels of the government i presume many reviewers be conducted well we just heard peter ueberroth is the head of the olympic committee here say that they're very willing to try to work to change the minds of the soviet leaders you think the reagan administration will try to do that also an industry uber are very properly will make that effort i'm sure he'll have the support of the international olympic committee and i wish him well in his effort to

help the soviets rethink their positions were well the administration range russian player roland avis was a decision made basically by the soviet not in consultation with us the only committee we must remember is a private organizations sexual contact with at the time from the soviet government to the la host committee and therefore wouldn't necessarily involve us government channel would you like to see a change and i think we would like for the benefit of a very successful olympics for the success of a truly competitive international sports event like say the soviet practice of why and i'm jerry still automatically only have fragmentary reports available vegas is sometimes analyze what went through their decision making process one would have to think however that there were mortars have to be extremely complex and have to run for anything from our their frustration and arm

they do to participate in the ad game to do anything they expected here and i really can't give you any honest judgment at this point is that what motivated what we've already administration spokesman saying that was blatantly political is that a fair statement i think that's a fair statement of one understands how the soviet system works of their decisions are made politically either they're in financial of that committee is in two of a government that doesn't exercise independent status as our thousand and it's a logical conclusion that any decision made there is a government research what do you think there's any merit to the charges they may level that the united states would ensure the security in the rights of their athletes' there was the interference i don't know now that actually in america that matter of factly security precautions have been tremendous of the full us cooperation of the state county local love law enforcement officials and federal officials the los angeles post them at an extremely careful in the area of security and the

soviets know they really have no complaint and that's more than you think you were among the factions that's hard to tell the history of the soviet era lead participation in the olympics is not disclose a pattern of the faction i'm sure that they go to great pains to say that such thing did not happen i would have to believe at least at this point of a combination of many banks and it would have to insure be traced back to the moscow olympics as well one's really at this point can say what the real motivation was written with this point remain that is what i think this says about the state of us soviet relations at this point a us soviet relations are now they're an aid that's no surprise yet another and they're very normal contacts in various levels of the

this isn't really that they make more than we were always open to have better than the level we maintain certain that responsibilities of the soviets and to operate in a much more political atmosphere than we do but isn't this a pretty dramatic statement about how bleak the soviets feel about at least the immediate future of their relations with this country i mean it's a dramatic statement indicating their inability to adjust to some of the challenges they may face the los angeles athletically as well as the myriad public relations with that constituency running her further speculation about why the soviets decided to withdraw from the games we turn to a long time soviet watcher the girls knows former london bureau chief for the washington post a former moscow correspondent he recently became a senior editor at the newer permission from random house mr oz as why do you think the soviets back to what i think it's a it's a reflection of just how bad so in american relations that really aren't i

agree it was a political judgment but i think the primary reason is the solace want to send the message to the reagan administration to the american people that they are very very unhappy with how badly things were going in in us emissions and make it couldn't find any other way to do it having already walk down the arms control towards having seen so many other aspects of the relationship with cromwell this was about as dramatic gestures as they could make why would they make there are other reasons so all bleak you heard william simon column a litany of demagogue chargers well i think that within the broader context there are some specific complaints i think the soviets did resent enormously the notion that there were going to be lots of people out there who were shouting at them all the time that they would be in people encouraging defections in general discomfort they felt that it was the american government's responsibility as the host to protect the best interests of the soviets before that i was at i definitely see in a fair minded interpretation of this kind of thing was it the responsibility of the american government to stop us depositor and his group from doing with the intent of

it welcome in every country where we are a free country we couldn't stop and i think if in fact relations between the us and the ussr were on that airplane as they haven't saved in simple nineteen seventy two seventy six the probably wouldn't have been the kind of focus on that on that so the issue that there were that there was going to be a nineteen eighty four other words if we were appeared more lessen the top there would've been demonstrations to be sure that they would not have been the centerpiece so what amounted to the american public reaction was disappointed american public reaction to this a dissipation there will be you've heard the speculation about whether other east european countries will follow suit watcher guess and my guess is that there's no question that can you imagine these germans coming to los angeles of the soviet state i don't think they want to come and won't come what the cubans it's really very unlikely i think this means that these plotters know it's on the way to the flowers that was not for these plots they get certainty this was a comedy so i remain

instrument in may means possible but let's face it the remains are going to get what i see so you would expect the holy sport virtually family's plot standards of what about the likelihood of the soviets' changing their mind further down the line it's very very hard to do there isn't a great deal of time left i think if there were some dramatic change in the nature of the climate in these western nations or perhaps some effort by president reagan's of the ground just something that he could be quite capable of doing to try to bring i say look it's too important for the future of our young people that this happened let's see it's conceivable if there were american concessions if for example that the census was somehow what congress tried it but i can imagine i think that once they made this kind of decisions it's very unlikely that dr west german foreign minister ventures when you're talking to president reagan said on his way back to david he was going to go to moscow among other things and try and get them to change their mind would have been typical of them to change their mind up to such a big or not it would not it would not be typical they've obviously had decision

making at the very highest level and this was not a casual judgment this was i think his somebody was saying very definitely a top level decision it's a very important symbolic gesture it's not just the olympics except it's another important nomination in relations with the united states and tended to say something larger about relations with reagan administration united states armstrong absolute without any doubt this is a very broad statement yes let's go back to mr belinsky just heard this arises as commenting said this is another important term a nation of us soviet relations i would use that word of all i think that one could call a dramatic moment given the confines of the fourth factor here given me let's even offer some a legitimate security concerns among let's take into account they instantly discipline they will exercise over their other eastern european

allies one has a lot of play as does the river's decision really go back at america you could speculate for quite some time that it will eventually have a fuller story of what had transpired in their decision making process which you don't agree with this dr nurse's assessment that this ad makes a very broad statement about that that the condition the state of us soviet relations no i don't believe so i thought they went to great pains in their statement to emphasize certain almost any complaints about how they've been treated in the olympic procedure made an olympic issue and grandmother that has substantially exaggerated that that is where they have placed their art mr oz no citizen just no indication whether it's partially olympic issue i think that they felt that they had legitimate grievances of the fact that the ravioli is demonstration since early that's the point at which they they focused because this wasn't an olympic decision of olympic judgment but i think behind it is very definitely a political objection

after all i thought was to do once you said that this was a political judgment i think is at the highest levels of the second i would dispute that i think that's a fact and therefore it becomes a very generalized in common and so american relations his dad was a guy what effect do you think this will have on the future of the olympic games from your perspective they don't have any major effect if you go back there back to nineteen fifty six there's been something happening with every olympics i'm fifty six it was the big hung gary and defections seventy two the terrorism against israelis and there's been something every major olympics the olympics will go on they'll be injury and eighty eight this year even if the soviets out and that it's an eastern bloc with them will still fifty more countries than any previous olympic event and did you when did you agree with that i mean we've had the us not participating in ad we had this previous experiences and to volunteer mention and now the soviets not coming here in nineteen eighty four well it's a rocky period

obviously for the olympic leader i would hope for their say that these complications haven't developed yet got into many parts and i just answer pollack thinks those directly dictate their own olympic fair consideration united states is one of the few countries where in fact the athletes are quite legitimate in their pursuit of amateurism can't really say that about many others and i were taking this is another example perhaps why the entire olympic movement of the early and properly reviewed in order to avoid these applications but this immediate crisis and forced it on the international olympics seen by the soviets and their only reason senator publicly stated reasons are very very flimsy straw well i think the olympic movement isn't in serious trouble it's clear that it is a captive of east west relationship can you can't just do that in nineteen eighty we pulled out and tried to bring our allies with this because of afghanistan this time they pulled

out among other things because of the state of soviet american relations it's clear that the olympics or politics politics and sports are intertwined and that's really very sad because it's not part of the olympic ideal it'll when anonymous did to wednesday's earlier comment that there were a lot of the reason for this probably had to do the fact the soviets just didn't feel like a complete athletically and in the public relations i think there was a lot to be gained for the soviets it home and doing well militants have productive face the fact that they've done extremely well on them and gold medals sold medals in fact they've done better than we have in the olympics in recent test i don't think they were afraid to compete at all that big they'd probably look forward to the opportunity and their athletes are going to be just as disappointed as our efforts are going to be in the end it's the athletes of course who suffer the most mr bomberger did you expect are many defections is there any way when dissipate how that scenario would have played itself out well from every indication that we were getting that infections would probably exceed two hundred from the entire eastern bloc we had information coming from behind the iron curtain we also have

some sympathetic journalists even in moscow so we had a pretty good input of what was going underground back there when the spectators the athletes got here and to be on american soil have that opportunity to defect right where they want to be was a very odd tempting visit us the how and the united states have dealt with that were where it was the administration prepared for that we have standard procedures or laws provide for those cases and a lot of them the likable mr proper authorities are that they're not ready to do that iran best to see that the laws were magnified properly each individual we had no extraordinary plans nor should we have had for any unusual development but not in the olympic holds responsibility than in any of the laws and responsibilities and our boat not have been there

was there any way the united states that the administration could've guaranteed the soviets their athletes would not have ever come in contact with these anti soviet groups like mr voss again now i think that is one of the fascinating problems we might disagree with the approach of some of these groups that we didn't disagree with the right to emphasize their points and that's one of the great freedom of our country is freedom of speech and expression they were effectively using know that freedom and that's something that we wouldn't think of in any way imposing a muscle or a spray the bomb thank you and i went back to iraq while the soviet union was attacking america over the olympics washington were sharply attacked in moscow for its treatment of dissident under a sucker of the nobel prize winning physicist went on a hunger strike last wednesday because his wife yelena bonner was not allowed to go abroad for medical treatment sakharov

was confined to the closed city of work at the silences human rights campaign a friend told western reporters today that his wife has been accused of anti soviet slander possibly of treason and ordered confined to gorky as well state department spokesman john hughes said the united states consider the treatment of the couple as inhuman and in comprehensible and he demanded information about them in rome today a state prosecutor recommended that scream bulgarians and four terps stand trial in connection with the attempt to assassinate pope john paul in nineteen eighty one the request involves sergei ivanov and former manager a bulgarian state airlines in rome and two former bulgarian embassy employees turkish gunman may have a tally up shop who confessed to shooting the pope said he had help from bulgarian agents western press reports have speculated there were acting in summit instigation the silence john paul support for poland's solidarity movement of americans have denied

the charges early returns from the four states that held democratic presidential primaries today give walter mondale an apparent victory in two of those states north carolina and maryland well two other states ohio and indiana show a continuing tight race between <unk> mondale and senator gary hart with you first the results from indiana with almost half the precincts reporting mr hart has a slight lead over mr mondale thirty nine percent to thirty eight percent jesse jackson trailing with sixteen percent in ohio or excuse me in north carolina with thirty one percent of the precincts reporting no i take that back where back in ohio with thirty percent of the precincts reporting system on bail has a slight lead over mr hart forty three percent to heart's forty one percent jesse jackson coming in third at fourteen percent north carolina with though almost a third of the precincts reporting mondale has a fairly substantial lead forty percent and

gary hart thirty four percent and seventeen percent for jesse jackson and finally in maryland with thirty two percent of the precincts reporting a substantial labor walter mondale forty eight percent thirty three percent for mr hart and fourteen percent of jackson polling that was done today by the three commercial networks indicates that jackson was drawn more than seventy five percent of the black vote in all four state but that he was going in very few white votes we will update all of these results later robin in quebec city a man wearing a canadian army uniform invaded the provincial legislature with a submachine gun killed three people wounded fourteen and then surrendered year's report from tom kennedy of the cbc it began just before ten this morning first the gunman dressed and i'm like a soldier delivered an audio tape to a nearby radio station then he drove to the national assembly of the time the

people at the radio station contacted police the man was inside the assembly shooting criminals as members of the police tactical squad swarmed all over the assembly grounds barricades were set up an adjoining buildings were evacuated police learned that three people were dead in common was holding more than a dozen other employees hostage negotiations again in the meantime police checked the guns are for booby traps we also checked offices inside the assembly building for bombs finally after five hours the gunman was taken the only remaining hostage was a sergeant at arms he was released unharmed the libyan leader colonel moammar gadhafi apparently survived an attack today in the barracks where he lives and loyalist forces crushed an attempt to overthrow his government about fifteen rebels firing rockets and automatic weapons attacked the ballot and fighting went on for several hours eventually the libyan army brought in armored vehicles police surrounded the area and the shooting stopped the libyans at all the attackers were killed libyans claimed

the rebels were commandos trained by the sudanese in the british two countries that have quarreled with libya in the persian gulf iraqi war planes attack two oil tankers today one the soul of a hundred seventeen thousand tons was reported to be on fire and the crew to abandon ship another reason to be a large share of the original report on whether it was seriously damaged in beirut the reverend benjamin we're a presbyterian clergyman who has lived in lebanon for thirty years was kidnapped as he was walking along the street in a prosperous residential neighborhood is the fourth american to be kidnapped in west beirut since muslim militia men seized control of the area and fiber journey in el salvador today unofficial returns backup jose napoleon duarte's claim that he won sunday's presidential election the official returns have yet to be certified by the country's election commission of the unofficial tally gives to our day for fifty four percent of the vote on his right wing opponent roberto d'aubuisson has forty five percent it was a city will seek a peaceful solution to el salvador's civil war and

while he wants us economic aid he said he would never let foreign troops fight the leftist rebels were battling the government in nicaragua the government says that it shot down a honduran army helicopter miguel d'escoto the nicaraguan foreign minister said that five hunter and grown men were killed when their helicopter was down near the town of pluto say discover a charge that the helicopter was one of two that flow into nicaragua airspace this morning robin leading banks today raised their prime lending rate half a percentage point to twelve and a half percent that's the highest level in eighteen months and the third a half point jump since mid march the prime is the rates banks charged their best business customers and it's considered a key indicator of what lies ahead in the economy wall street took the news calmly the dow jones average of thirty industrials stock closed up nine point seven four points to finish the dead alive and seventy six point three out of the white house did not take the news calmly white house spokesman larry speaks in a rare public rebuke

blame the increase on the federal reserve board he said the board obviously is not accommodating the nation's economic growth and controlling the money supply speaks added there at the absolute bottom of their own target range of the period of expansion and economic growth the prime rate rises also viewed with concern by bankers who believe it will sharply increased the burden of countries which have borrowed heavily from us banks explain the impact of higher interest rates on us and world economic recovery we have felix rohatyn senior partner in the new york investment banking firm of mozart freyre is to report your reaction to the white house comment first of all on the federal reserve board's that's what i think is wrong unfair i think that to blame the fed for increasing interest rates that when we're running two hundred billion dollar deficit seems to me to be a little like winding the candy store for being overweight know we're running in an

out of control budget in this country and though we are pumping in savings from all over the world to finance the deficit i'm no great technical monitoring expert but it seems to me that she or commonsense indicates that you can't just expect the fed to parental money in the world to finance our deficit is it true that they are fed has been keeping bn the its increase in the money supply at the low end of the range that it had projected you know one of the problems with this business of interest rates and of everybody becoming a technical expertise that there are as many measurements of money supply as they are people practically so you can think practically speaking your own index and decide that they're at the upper end of the loran my impression is that the fed has been falling rather carefully the expansion of the economy and has been as accommodating as they can within the levels of of their responsibility so you would put the rise in interest rates is thirty one now and a couple of

months down to pressure created by the federal deficit and the amount of government borrowing but that creates wealth plus the fact that the economy is running very strongly as a result partly of these huge deficits we're running and therefore both business and government are now borrowing money in addition you have the third world that that is out there with a seventy eight hundred billion dollars which is not being repaid and in addition you have to have say a hundred billion dollars a year four inches closer to have to keep lending these countries so the demand for monday is very very high i believe secondly because we've deregulated so many of the financial services the cost of money to everybody is becoming is becoming automatically greater now what effect on domestic recovery is this increase in crime rate going to think well i think that the league the current business recovery is still growing very strongly and therefore in terms of the actual day to day business at this point a half a point increase in the rate is not going to make a dramatic

difference it will make a big difference and export related industries because every time they'd probably interest rates go up the value of the dollar goes up and when the dollar bills of industries in our country that exports are less and less competitive and industries that compete with imports become less and less competitive so that if you're talking for instance about removing import restrictions on japanese cars as the dollar gets stronger in the end gets weaker it would be more and more devastating to the us automotive industry and only yesterday the commerce department reported that the trade deficit the difference between what we sell abroad in what we buy reached a record for the first quarter of this year and this will keep pushing it higher and higher because the dollar will go higher as a result of a lower interest rate structure and therefore important what the next portugal enabled down which will also create much greater pressures

for protectionism in this country politically and again we'll go to the whole question of the world trading system on the exposure of our banks in the third world to come back to that for a moment what is the simple explanation of why the dollar goes up when us interest rates go up because foreigners when interest rates go up ten to come bring their money over to this country in order to take advantage of a high interest rates as well as our political stability is his analysis was another back on the street and that they're getting better bank is safer by in order to bring the money over here however they have to buy dollars against their own currency and the more they do that the more they pushed the value of the dollar up against their own currency the quarterback concentration receives what about in the domestic economy of those industries which are directly affected by are supposed to be affected by a higher interest rates home building industry automobile industry will clearly it's not just one half percent increase is that it's an accumulation of the settlements

how clearly it's not good for these industries are anything that pushes interest rates up and makes these products more expenses says is bad for the industry in la long run i think it's probably worse psychologically at this point than it is actually because the people are still buying a very very strongly but the psychology or one interest rate rise after the other becomes a trend and of the other day and the gulf is a great experts predicted spectacularly higher rates by the end of the year now i don't know if he's right or wrong but all of this crazy if there were stop action to destroy not just assuming that whatever action there is to cut the deficit this year is going to be more cosmetic than real in terms of love love of current government bought so you would expect more increases in crime rate in mountain well i would expect i would think that logically unless our economy were to turn down in the near future which i don't anticipate logically would have to expect higher pressures on non interest rates to be on the outside rather than

supporters yours to work is a prime rate begins to interfere with recovery and it's not present where does it have to get before you would begin getting worried about having really serious kirby well i i just don't believe that what we're doing now is sustainable i don't believe that a sustainable to be running interest rates even at these levels one when the inflation rate of muslims as low as it is she huge federal deficit it's a hundred billion dollar plus trade deficits all and that this can continue for very long i can continue for six months of get into for your for eighteen months but at some point we're going to run into a brick wall now you mentioned the world that situation and all the money that is owed to the united states and other other countries particularly by third world countries what effect does a half a percent rise in the us prime rate well for so it is a direct monetary effective brazil also hundred billion dollars now which is about those girls at a one percent rise in hand in interest costs them a billion dollars a

year now that may not sound like very much and in contrast to a hundred billion dollar debt but these are countries that are desperately trying to get and some semblance of balance with respect to their exports and imports and just keeping up with interest and it's just a very serious setback to them in these countries need not higher interest rates but dramatically lower interest rates not just slightly lower nurse through her jim wright suggested today house minority leader majority leader suggested today that particular with regard to lebanon's central america that these rate should be cut drastically and said he agreed with you there should be cut back to five or six percent and what is the consequence on american banks who owe these vets of these rising interest rates for the debtor nations well these images of the default more likely these credits become more questionable because the ability of these countries to service the debt becomes more and more a problematical and therefore something is going to have to happen on the other hand i don't believe the banks by

themselves can just take drastic action and cut their interest rates in half because the banks had to expose therefore at some point there's going to have to be concerted action between the banks the central banks in the western governments to do something much more comprehensive there is a meeting going on right now believe that other than twenty central banks here in new york and there is a long and solid conference coming up which are really take those problem in washington and as a city that rarely stop to pause and reflect the place where decisions get made fast and were people seen constantly to be on the move but today was somewhat of an exception some of the most famous names in the nation's capital took time out to honor one of this country's most beloved presidents harry truman was born one hundred years ago today our chest tone ernie

at a special joint session of congress surviving members of the truman administration join today's lawmakers to recall with praise and anecdotes the small town businessman from missouri it surprised the nation with his upset presidential victory in nineteen forty eight many historians have since paid tribute to truman or decisive leadership throughout his years in the white house today speaker praised his firm actions in defense of the nation but they also cited other personal qualities in assessing truman missouri congressman alan weeks district includes independents truman's hometown ladies and gentlemen he was one of the most powerful men of the century and yet at the same time remain firmly routed in humble missouri so truman was also honored today at the white house by the man now occupies the oval office harry truman in the pearl gray stetson and a light gray suit and the round rimmed glasses and a walking stick harry truman on his morning stroll the brisk cadence of his work

met with a blunt rhythm of the speech plain spoken flame talking no nonsense very he was in many ways the quintessential american an interesting situation to bring you up to date is shaping up in the four democratic primaries today with results coming in the networks say won mondale appears to one in north carolina and maryland but indiana and ohio are too close to call let's look at the results starting with indiana with fifty five percent of the precincts reporting hard as an apparent lead with forty percent walter mondale thirty eight percent and jackson sixteen percent an ohio also very close with twenty three percent of the precincts in art has again and apparently in forty three percent mondale second with forty percent jackson with fifteen percent rebate that the commercial networks with their exit polling say those two states are too close to call in the north carolina primary with nearly half the precincts in mondale has thirty

eight percent harder second with thirty two jackson is third with twenty one percent and in maryland with forty four percent of the precincts in mondale has forty seven percent are thirty one percent and jackson third with seventeen percent now for a look at what these early results mean for the campaigns of the candidates we talked in march sales of former democratic campaign consultant now political columnist for the washington post mr shiels ohio is apparently the most important of these states does gary hart is that he's got a little bit of a lead that isn't happy when ohio to be taken seriously yes they are winning is coming in first wins ohio by ten votes in indiana by eleven though the major victories for gary hart and stops the inevitability and and conversely what is that mean for walter mondale ideas he badly hurt that the essence we called for states i think the last seventy two hours starting with mondale's overwhelming victory in tents since mondale they do real liberal with heavy labor are backing fl ceo stamp of

approval upon him winning in texas or a cowboy boot wearing westerner who was against the windfall profits tax gary hart and and heart turns around and wins in ohio and that he does i mean the pundits and then the sages and a large dose of humility leveling so we're awake which basically means is that their mondale is that it is certainly still ahead but then the early knockout of a coveted and hope for this is not yours so when we have that we have a fight just on and on for the next tuesdays and on through until a month now and in california i think so i think california and become so again important interesting it's a justification and it says the super bowl and ali are the cliches that will trot out but it will be an important time eckhart doesn't win and as we said is he's ahead by a few percentage points right now that if he doesn't win in ohio is that pretty much the end for him i think it's it gets dark i think he's come so close that there's probably an incentive

to continue at this point the campaign and i say this my previous life it's a lot easier to continue that has declined in the campaign you go back to the real world which is not really is interestingly you don't have a microphone testimony think the russians not only olympics whatever happens that our it does it mean is the momentum to keep it going and i think in that case that the california isn't natural from gary hart it's a state that refuses to endorse or ratify what other states have done nineteen eighty voted for edward kennedy after jimmy carter had wrapped up in nineteen seventy six a vote for jerry brown ft jimmy carter had wrapped up but our people and economists for and saying what he's got no chance of winning this nomination y z hanging in there and continue to beat up on monday well i think if i were very heart of our accounts and gary hart which i'm not i would say gary hart has to think at some point about nineteen eighty and his best chances are beginning to run for vice president nineteen eighty four that vice president at forrester

forces went on the ticket but when joe lieberman wins a california burned them until people might have no choice especially wins ohio indiana but to have jews and yet that they are looking at again at these delegate totals mondale has got such an enormous lead at this point why doesn't there are going to do that now as we know and they are the numbers really well nigh impossible for mr heart even if he wins ohio tonight this this has been a sure that it's terribly difficult which are in a situation right now today we can say hey we've gone this far there's only couple guys let the marines have a realistic chance lightning could strike you know sir what might happen and it's been that kind of a crazy your heart had a great he was a great first date the wonderful for a statement on lebanon and then they called on how to combat and it would show our resiliency it would certainly hold him in good stead and recommend them for a placement at this time how do you explain his doing as well as he is in ohio at first glance i think you suggested this in ohio doesn't seem to be a gary bartz i yeah i don't know i mean

i really don't know and i don't there's no young be element to know i've entered an adequate way of all immobile it's not the izod bear outfit is not be a uniform of the state the pink and green another state college certainly know so it isn't that sort of estates not like connecticut's out like massachusetts or vermont where he did well earlier i've done properly more well people in ohio you to get out or become republicans it seems so i don't know i mean he's just doing well and they'll be addressed and analyze just a quick word about jesse jackson is getting anywhere from fifteen to twenty one percent of the vote at all for the states as i say anything new about where he stands we know he's still getting very few white votes not jesse jackson as far as it will go to a convention where he will give a speech which will be favorably compared to women combines cross of gold speech he will give a marvelous think it's one of the poems that gary hart have it go to the convention and make a speech and then compared by the critics add to john glenn a nineteen seventy six against the us eclipsed by the eloquence that your barber joined so that's

another dilemma that hardest part has a lot of options that these choices are difficult and most mondale will also have a lot of fun trying to figure out what is the jackson thank you march ailes of england's robin that's our newshour tonight we were back tomorrow night i'm robert macneil the ninth the macneil lehrer newshour is funded by at and t reaching out in new directions the corporation for public broadcasting and the station and other public television stations thank you

since you only in new