The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour

you know the maz by that evening i'm robert macneil new year and underwear in washington after a summary of the news this friday with a newsmaker interview with house majority leader richard gephardt about his health care reform proposal excerpt from the first day of set of whitewater hearings and political analysis of both events by mark shields an alter ego needing funding for them and you literally lose our heads

and my new york like yet another example of new york lives wise investment philosophy and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by the annual financial support from viewers like you president clinton today decided to send us troops into rwanda to help speed at the refugees in nearby zaire the first phase of the operation will involve two hundred troops who'll open a new airfield in the capital kigali it will serve as a really supply hub for the region additional us deployments will be considered at a later date earlier in the day the president asked congress to approve another three hundred forty million dollars in emergency funds renee internal usaid to half a billion dollars at the white house mr clinton said the us military deployment in rwanda would be limited in scope let me be clear about this any deployment of united states troops inside rwanda would be for the immediate and

the sole purpose of humanitarian relief not the peacekeeping this afternoon the us said it will work with the new government in rwanda to end the crisis may well more food shipments arrive in the refugee camps today we have a report narrated by philip mr of worldwide television news first the lenders since the rebels claimed victory it came from uganda where a new problem a shortage of aircraft fuel forced the cancellation of fourteen supply crisis aid workers in go mode again trying to disperse the refugees putting them aboard buses to take them to this crowded camps to the north and west ham has been dedicated many have been left to fend for themselves because the ten member american electorate team arrived in going there

to test the water and sanitation facilities they came with two planeloads of bulldozers to help dig mass graves and opening today rethinking the very color and dehydration are still painting painting hundred lives each day aid workers said today the epidemic that has already killed nearly twenty thousand refugees in zaire is now spreading to rwanda a color is believed had been carried by some of the sixty thousand refugees who recently returned home nearly two million people remain in the camps along the border two people were shot and killed outside an abortion clinic in pensacola florida today a doctor at the clinic was one of the victims were in a bulletproof vest when he was shot in the head a nurse was also wounded local leader of the militant anti abortion group was arrested and charged with a two month meyers a doctor and another abortion clinic in pensacola was killed by a gunman last year house democratic leaders unveiled their health care reform proposal today a plan needs president

obama's requirement for universal coverage and calls for employers to pay the eighty percent of workers insurance by nineteen ninety nine it also creates a new medicare plan medicare see the cover the poor unemployed and some small business employees majority leader richard gephardt of the mozart missouri announced the plan is not to cry well it isn't the congress is bill we believe that is the people's bill and will the bill means every one of the principles that was sent out our president universal health care coverage to work with employers sharing of responsibility and real incentive to rein in the costs that are exploding are national that president clinton offered his support for the plan he did so in a speech via satellite to a conference of minority journalists in atlanta

the house bill tell the american people that they have been heard it as simple and more flexible more sensitive to small business gone is the iraq debate unlike protections for small businesses have been strengthened the bill is being phased in over a long period of time all americans could keep their health plan and the doctor and everybody will have coverage as republicans call the proposal a smaller version of the clinton plan they predicted the bill would not receive any republican votes the legislation is expected to go to the full house for debate next month we'll have more on the story later in the program the senate banking committee opened its white water hearings today the topic was the suicide last july a white house that the counsel vince foster witnesses at today's hearing included medical examiners us park police and fbi agents involved in the foster investigation all said there was no doubt that foster had taken his own life will have more on this story later in the program the senate voted eighty seven to

nine the data confirmed stephen bryer as a justice of the us supreme court that by receive congratulations from president clinton during a boys nation of them at the white house the second to the federal appeals court judge from boston was nominated by the president to replace justice harry blackman who retire newly released fbi files show that the agency spied on conductor leonard bernstein over a thirty year period the documents written by the american civil liberties union under the freedom of information act the surveillance began in the nineteen forties and continued through the nineteen seventies tracking bernstein's anti war and civil rights activities bernstein is the director of the new york philharmonic he died in nineteen ninety the judge in the oj simpson case today sets of territory as the date for the start of the murder trial since and has pleaded not guilty to killing his ex wife and a friend the commerce department reported today the economy grew at an annual rate of three point seven percent in the second quarter

that's up from three point three percent in the first three months of the year firefighters are battling more than three hundred wildfires in seven western states britain france and today the federal government will do all it can to help who us marine battalions are being employed aid firefighters in washington state fires there and in oregon were subtle by lightning last week in over one hundred and thirty thousand acres and burned they're so for fifteen homes have been destroyed in madrid spain a top army general was among three people killed by a car bomb today at least fourteen others were injured in the attack which occurred near the royal palace no one claimed responsibility but the government blame within spain the ira has been blamed for an attack in northern ireland today police station outside belfast was hit by mortar fire forty four people were injured the ira attack the same police station nine years ago more than eighty thousand combat support jobs in the army and marine corps will be opened to women

defense secretary william perry made that announcement today the navy and air force already allow women in such jobs front line combat assignments remain off limits to win and that's it for the newshour tonight now it's on to the gap are bland and the senate when water hearings with analysis of both by she'll san diego democratic leaders of the house of representatives put forward their plan for health reform today and that is our lead story drawing from the work of key committees in the house and from president clinton's proposal there would promise of americans have basic health benefits package it uses president clinton's controversy of financing mechanism requiring employers to pay the lion's share of the costs that virtually guarantees strong republican opposition will hear from house democratic leader dick gephardt the first free samples some of the reaction from the republican leadership

there's a been all our mistake about it the democratic leadership bill is in fact the current bill they may rearrange the few parts of the heart of the bill was quite man all the damaging things it would do to health care in america mr bill would impose government run healthcare on the american people about the government telling people what kind of health plan they must have and force the people to give up what they have and force them to take what they may not want and choice is definitely and seriously restrict that buttoned up our bill will impose health care spending limits of one form or another that substantially impact in the quality of care for most americans and the buttoned up our bill will impose mandates on employers thus waiting for the loss of millions of jobs in the reduction of wages and benefits for many and why may that mr bill will result ethics at the expansion of the federal spending with their private i had but which will ultimately two

major tax increases once they realized they could not sell a clinton bill it under their own members that they change the bill know they changed in a torch you know here's a self a rap perception on the part of the democrat leadership in the section that says we no longer try to fool the american people because we haven't made any real substantive changes but we will try before own member it is the most explicitly partisan bill imaginable you can't raise taxes set up a national politically define health benefit have mandates to kill jobs greater brand new government run medicare see which is their first step towards single payer socialized medicine you can do all these things and then turn said republicans and by the way you have an obligation to vote for this when this is antithetical to everything the pro people voted for

every english people voted for during the reagan supporters order for thing there is no constituency limerick the left of the democratic party an outside party though favor this and i think frankly four he presented the report would look i'm not in both the house and the country you outline this will pay forty percent of democrats say it was it was much too much time we'd turn out our newsmaker interview with house majority leader dick gephardt i spoke to him this afternoon farmers and thank you for joining us and they would your bill promises to universal coverage how quickly does it achieve that it achieves it completely by january the first nineteen ninety nine our employers and employees and firms bought over a hundred would have to become involved in health care on january one nineteen ninety seven and then everybody else under a hundred employees would be jay where the first nineteen ninety nine for those who don't have coverage now how soon will they get it and how organic third affirm love the

size of over a hundred it would be in two years under a hundred it would be in four years and are people who are part time employees seasonally unemployed things like that falling between the cracks now that they would be involved again in nineteen ninety nine so our uninsured people who now go to emergency rooms for example they wouldn't be able to take advantage of this new medicare see the plan until when jane you're the first nineteen ninety nine i say and when they do when that does come into force for them that is for people an unemployed people around or people as employers don't provide it where would they go for their coverage and how would they pay for it in nineteen ninety nine well you have various circumstances obviously if people are unemployed they could get it through social security offices aren't they can also are if they're employed get it through their employer i we do have

employer employee shared responsibility our requirement that they be impulsive they would get it through their employers some people be part time employees would get it through their part time employer up so there are various ways people to get involved with they would use their own card which the president how up in the speech and they would therefore be a lula go ahead news and through medicare offices are through their employer so that card still exists that was held up during the state of the union address that that is going to be part of this plan and will the world every american centric aren't exactly a love people who are us citizens of united states and the legal residents of the united states would be included in the program the plan says all americans will be guaranteed a benefits package does that mean that the medicare see plan will offer the same benefits as private insurance where that's correct well

we would have a national benefits package to include dr of visits would include obviously hospital stays a prescription drugs there would be a lot of benefits for preventive care or trying to keep people out of hospitals long term care eventually would be included in the package dental benefits for children and mental health benefits for everybody so it's a comprehensive package but it's unaffordable package our package is about five percent less in cost and value than the package that was in the president on how would your plan work for the great majority of americans who already have coverage now how would things change for them or first the vault the plan would not change what they have thought if they have a hundred percent contribution by their employer by agreement with the employer they could certainly keep that they just can't go more than eighty percent contribution by the employer and obviously twenty percent contribution by the employee

but there's no reason that this plan would change anything that they have but in addition they get some new benefits for instance so we would have insurance reform law they could no longer be knocked out of their plan because they got ill if they lost their job and went to a new job they could be assured that the new employer would have to offer them health care again the same national package of benefits thirdly we offer prescription drugs to medicare recipients so their parents would be able to take advantage of that benefit and finally we offer a new tax deduction for self employed individuals or if you're self employed the day you don't get a tax deduction for buying a health care package you would get an eighty percent reduction are deduction on your income taxes for buying a plan is a self employed individual what additional choices would somebody have already has

insurance today under your plan apart from the protections you've just outlined well you have a number of choices first of all every employer would have to offer one managed care plan at least one and one plan where you can choose your doctor of fee for service plan they could also offer of many employees a federal plan like members of congress and other federal employees have also if you're in a firm of a hundred or less employees are your employer could offer you the medicare see plans are ending and have you a map plan and of course if you're a medicare see which operates a lot like the traditional medicare program but with a little bit better package of benefits you could opt for nhl nora manage care plan under that if you're an unemployed person or out seasonally employed person are self employed personally go and medicare see it you can use the medicare package of benefits and the way medicare recipients do and fee

for service or you could go into a major mortgage care plan or you could get a voucher and go out and buy any kind of plan that you want is one other option available for private employees and private employers and that is what we call a medical savings account rather than buying an actual package of venice it's in their medical savings account your employer could put a two thousand dollars deductible major medical policy aside for you and then put the difference in premium in a bank account every year haven't earned interest and you can use that for your usual medical charts the difference in going into tomorrow more between eighty two thousand dollar deductible policy and what the e of medicare's new policy would cost very very sick the criticism has made that you will make it much harder for managed care providers the big growth area like hmo is today because you're making you require such plans to take any willing provider doctors or hospitals isn't true or it's

not true first of all we have change the language in the any willing provider area we still have a language so that a different kinds of providers have to be available different kinds of physicians and others but we do not require that they take on any possible person who wants to provide that service we revise the language to make it more reasonable and sensible secondly there was a provision in the ways and means committee bill that said that every health maintenance organization our managed care plan had to be what we call a point of service plan that is one that would be open to any specialist physician that a fear that a patient would want to go to the required which made him very onerous for major clans we changed that and took that out so there is no point of service requirement on health mean it's organization so i think the plan is very friendly to manage care in the competition which i believe strongly

is the best way to bring cost down how do you pay for all this additional flexibility in guarantees where does the money come from it it really comes from foreign sources first of all obviously by requiring employers and employees to be involved in health care by certain day two or four years most of the money for the plan comes from those employer z's erase and not a whole lot of revenue but that was a deduction that we felt was not as necessary given that we really have a universal health care plan president clinton welcoming your plan said it controls costs how does it do that it doesn't first of all

by getting more competition in the healthcare system and second by getting everybody involved in health care that will cut the cost for the rest of the people who have been paying for their health care and the people who didn't have health care our third way by leagues essence of this new medicare see program as a competitor with the private sector i believe the private sector will be pulling its costs down in order to compete with the cost of the medicare see program which has its cost constraints through the kind of mechanism we used traditionally in medicare to control costs and you have a provision whereas president clinton would've put caps on insurance premiums you don't do that would you ever provision that cucumber when after a few years and look at the costs and compared to medicare's see and set rates as medicare does is that right or let's correct we believe i believe that competition is working in the country to hold them cause and that if our plan passes

competition will be intensified all over the country to hold down costs i seriously doubt at all although will need to stand by commission that makes it its recommendation on why we haven't reached our cost goals over three years in a row but if indeed we're wrong in the costs are way out of control the commission can act and bring in price controls at that point i don't believe that'll happen so far you're benefits package guaranteed benefits package does not include abortion coverage is that correct we haven't dealt with that question yet we have a group of our members who see the issue differently trying to come up with a compromise language we are trying to not make this an issue about abortion but about health care and we're working to come to a solution a compromise that both sides of the issue can live with is a possible compromise allowing people who disagree on principle to opt

out all abortion coverage or their employers there're various ideas out there one is for people locked out another is to require that there be a police one plan that does allow abortion and one plan that doesn't allow be available to people to choose from and there are a variety of options that each one of them has some technical own worries and problems but we feel that we can find the solution that both sides can live with and he decided yet whether to offer subsidies for premiums for insurance premiums for retired people elderly retired people thought before i answer that i want out i'm reminded that we do have subsidies for small employers especially those who have a lot of low wage employees to help those employers be able to buy health care for their employees and i if you're a small

employers say one under twenty five and you have a lot of low wage people you could have your liability reduced from eighty percent of the cost of those plants to forty percent are another reason fifty percent reduction in addition we are working on a provision that would deal with the problem of early retirees and their health care we are first looking for a proposal that would limit it to the people that are out there now without making it a forward looking proposal or also looking to see if we can figure out how to pay for other through the employers and employees of early retirees it a system that would go for the hot you were greedy that has reported that the senate will vote first employer mandates to protect those house democrats who fear the senate might pull a rug out from under them we really don't have a agreement our understanding of both houses have a responsibility

to pass a bill or were on a similar time schedules but because of the difficulty of putting these bills together and getting them cost him we don't know exactly when we're going to be on the floor and we don't know exactly when the senate will be also there is no deal on that and all week we've gotta go ahead under our own time schedules and that i think will be more or less on the four simultaneously because we have a rules committee that allows is to better predict how long we're going to be on the floor it's likely the house will be off the floor before the senate has finished as you read public opinion do you think a vote for employer mandate is a dangerous political vote for a democrat this year i take a vote for shared responsibility is a good vote a popular vote i make a good majority of the american people want universal coverage very badly they want everybody in the pool that what everybody sharing in these costs and they want healthcare to be achieved the way we've always done that is

employers and employees carry out their responsibility that's the way it always worked in america and that's what our bill really insurance many reports in the last few days suggest that are well short of the two hundred and eighteen votes you need for this bill true well no one can tell you where the votes are today but but let me say this up until now there has just been an ability to criticize all the plans that are out there and now we're coming to a stage in this debate when it's one of the clan a against plenty of maybe gets when state so now we've got very real alternatives each of them has a good points and bad points but the important thing is they're going to be compared and then members have to make a choice to you for plan a b or c or nothing and i believe that when members really immersed himself in the facts and work it very different futures that are out there between these plants you're going to choose the plan that we talked about today

and proposed today i am optimistic that we can do this i think america wants a just fairer health care system and i think that they're going to vote for this plan when they when they get to that point you're an intruder now some of the politics of this proposal was saying by shiels and hugo syndicated columnist mark shields wall street journal columnist politico mark is this it the magic bullet but the democrats would love an upright and doggone it i think this is this is close as a rap artist is legendary dick gephardt of the house majority that they have an iron bar i mean this is a guy who will set to meetings and listen to me but a baby is not a single democratic house member yes it was and sought out their opinions their advice they're inside their objections and this is this is a distillation obviously there are still some

unresolved congress used to have but i think this is what the house will vote and i think you heard the outlines of what they get parts and invaded the perfect is the enemy of the good i we talk about ideal bills or whatever and come down pena between gephardt cattle eleanor mitchell vs bowl ii ended and process maybe baby a baby a moderate alternative world we think of all the other republicans really said that wherever they are the clip there before the interview that robin niblett with gebhardt that this is really still clinton still would land with a new us off a wrapper around them is that is that is that is the game reserve is that true well a little both i was up at the lowest mark at the congressman from port presentation today and what struck me as each of the members of the democratic leadership lineup and made their case is one of the key points in a was this is not the clinton plan didn't <unk> gephardt senators to

ponder set of the phases i mean you had seven reasons why it is not a plan they would've thought a year or two years into his presidency that the most important issue that presence in the president's often be radioactive and that's really where we are there to have a very hard time selling this latino republican votes i don't think anyone knew they're there to get it right i mean and that's just got it right i think that's right i haven't gone to one republican vote for anything like this even though it won a vote for something in health care that this war will not vote for this i noticed the unabomber on the clinton point that the president's statement in support of this we ran last summer humans it appears the bureaucratic of another words he said it answers the criticism of his own plan and so he's even said okay if that's what it takes you know that my name will go to get away from it is that the war was not so necessary humility about the issue on there's no question in polling and reveal that they're in at this report

upon when people are asked about the individual elements of the plan i universal coverage employer is picking up their share of the allied share of the premiums higher and all of that individually they're fine and you get strong support in virtually every survey yet when you say this to the clinton plan on top of it and i think that's because so much of the criticism has been leveled against the clinton plan you agree with that but just the label planners now something that we need to run away from forget the details oh you have to you have to flee i mean that the lead don't get near it and they want the president to stay on that bus tour with a first ladies stay out of town and some of those are allowed but the principles themselves are not a done deal the employer mandate is by no means a certainty i talked to a couple of moderate democrats today i jim cooper of tennessee and mike andrews of texas both of our votes that they would like to be a big guy and they both said this bill is not gonna pass they will believe can pass in the house with employer mandate and it is actually more liberal than

the climate bill because it would expand medicare which means about sixty percent of the public would be under medicare a public program a government program and the president's else's want private insurance so they're not vote for this either dc of all the kinetic where were there that were some negotiating positions babies at twenty five could that go to seventy five twenty five minute visit the people what cooper and andrew are they looking for ways to negotiate with their party leadership or is it just yes vote with them and offer another alternative i think that they would've liked all long to negotiate with the leadership but the leadership doesn't seem to be willing to cave on on that central issue which is the employer mandate these democrats most of them will not vote for any kind of employer mandate i mean we get it either in the bill renewing republicans won't vote for either not there and the debate has shifted on us and i think republicans feel they don't need to and the democrats feel that if they do celebrate the state's of the bataan death march as a practice of practical matter markets that leave enough democrats to vote for a boy and this employer in

any kind of employer mandate without republican jeff the eighty five percent of the records could get to a few minutes that doesn't even of what we go democrats still talk for me about a targeted to dozens of republican house members they are confident they can get if not an initial press conference report refers to mandatory mandatory mandated benefits aren't necessary employer mandates for this recent trend for the democrats it's the only way that the cost of taking a way to cover the cost the whole plan for example which apart went to great lengths to lift up is that they're nemesis in the adversary they were running against for a family of four i think making twenty six thousand dollars a year comes to six thousand dollars he and queens i mean u talkin talkin big money or nineteen percent of the total income of the family before making twenty nine thousand dollars but just really a lot of

money and so this is this is that this is the year of the vehicle that that is necessary as far his employer mandates a concern i think it's interesting because it has taken on such a life of its own in this whole debate about the listener dulles afternoon of course who oppose medicare and at fifty five years i've been in the congress as he is now if it becomes when michael who was a colleague of the purple and get out back here isn't planning the security is important and i haven't heard a single conservative insurgent incumbent account anyone around to what you feel these employer mandate and so that's you know well it's one thing to have an employer mandate imposed when there is not an already when you have this year a payroll tax but we already have a fifteen percent payroll tax and put on another eight or nine percent how much can this mistake before you end up with structural i mean that's a very powerful and that's why a lot of that the democrats seem to think of a keepsake vista social

security over again as is medicare over again with thirty years later we've got to do it this is a big chance that the countries differ the country has changed the country's had thirty years of experience with that government programs installed in the sixties and it's much more skeptical about the ability of government to solve those problems right now that's why i think they're running into one one know you come back and talk about what we're about one final question isn't it because of greens that the the senate plan that senator mitchell's boss to announce next week is going to be almost rabbinical for the department is a solemn panel no nonsense sentences in different ballgame the house had to come through that and i think they are the rise of fall of employer mandates will will hinge upon the first vote in the senate if they're if george mitchell can i get something in there that gives the house democrats but she was wavering people encouragement and survive it just prose no they needed to go respond to

conservativism they would do is as liberal ideas than thirty years after the earth now the third day of whitewater hearings today was the senate's turn the senate banking committee focused its inquiry on the death of vince foster we'll hear from shoes and judo but first these extended excerpts from today's hearings on a moment reports in my view the primary function of these public hearings is to get the facts out to the american people so that they may evaluate this matter for themselves in opening today's white mortar hearing senate banking chairman donald revolts of the public should keep an open mind he also asked fellow committee members to do the same and withhold judgment on the washington events surrounding white water until they had heard and reviewed all the information that would be presented over

several days when all the testimony has been presented and fully evaluated these matters can be judged in their entirety and the conduct of individuals weight accordingly but it was clear from the start that would not be the case you're hearing correctly displayed the same kind of partisanship that dominated two days of hearings and a house committee earlier this week the ranking republican of plants tomatoes immediately launched into an attack against the president came to the white house about a white what a trail behind now credibly white house to sacrifice the proper administration of justice and the older white water this committee has learned the american people will say that the white house's conceal the skies and distorted the truth all in the service of politics and the president still preservation there was unanimous agreement that reopening the investigation into the death of a deputy white house counsel vince and foster was a regrettable task while some members found it necessary to others the order there is absolutely no

credible evidence to contradict the fisk report's conclusion that vinson foster took his own life i suspect conspiracy theorists will always differ with this conclusion and little this committee does is go to muffle their speculation nonetheless the committee may ponder whether headmistress has been somewhat morris agents investigating the cause of mr foster's depression some of the added speculation we've witnessed in recent weeks would not have survived this panel is a banking committee not a medical board of inquiry with senators not courts as a legitimate questions that are to be examined but polling in a macabre way into the family tragedy that all that have looked at it included was that tragically a suicide nothing more i don't think it will do very quickly and get to the issues that the more serious in mind in my view robert visits investigation into office that concluded that was their shot himself in this park in virginia just across the potomac river from washington dc fbi officials assisting in

the investigation released a note but foster had written fighting his discomfort with the political culture of washington and condemning it last december amid speculation not fostered that might not have been a suicide press reports revealed that two days after his death then white house counsel bernard nussbaum remove files containing white water related documents from foster's off with robert fisk has not yet come pleaded that part of his investigation of limiting the scope of today's hearing of the suicide in the eyes later larry monroe led a panel of investigators to the witness table and proceeded to give a detailed account of how they determined vincent foster had committed suicide first there can be no question that vincent foster committed suicide interviewed witnesses foster and other family members revealed that mr faulkner was deeply depressed and the weeks prior to his death those close to him felt was that in those

final week cr lost considerable weight and was having trouble sleeping he appeared exhausted most of the time and he began to take on a drawn and gray appearance family and friends they did it appear distracted and worried most of the time and that he became quite subdued coworkers including former white house counsel bernard nussbaum noted that his productivity of the white house began to decline we learn that mr foster was deeply disturb other fallout from the drama losses matter over which the counsel's office was harshly criticized in the press we also know that he was distressed about the criticism that he received in a series of editorials that appeared in a wall street journal at one point you tell family members and a close friend that he was considering resigning his position his wife and sister believe that he did not do so because he would've felt

humiliated it returned to arkansas under those circumstances on friday july sixteenth four days before he committed suicide he told his sister that he was battling depression the system provided him with the names of three psychiatry us and encouraged him to conquer that one of them telephone records reveal that a nearly happened on july sixteenth mr forster as previously mentioned that attempt to reach out for help by twice attempting to contact one of the psychiatrists but was unsuccessful a list of psychiatry was founded mr forces while ago after his death on monday july nineteen the day before is that he contacted his position in arkansas and informed them of his depression a physician prescribe them with an anti depressant call presence known and on

the evening of july nineteen peter one of these bills the fbi laboratory found a trace of that drive the bone and blood taken from him at the time of your thoughts aside from this evidence that mr foster was the press the conclusion that he committed suicide is compelled by forensic evidence collected during this investigation the export of volunteers found this evidence and i quote typical characteristic of such findings and that's due to intentional self inflicted gunshot wounds the pathologist conclude that the nature of the injury could only have resulted from a gun or having been fired inside of this the forces now this was confirmed by an examination of microscopic slides taken on the autopsy which reveal a large quantity of gunpowder on the soft palate tissue inside of his mouth this indicator the barrel the weapon was essentially in contact with the soft palette wood fire

the pathologist prowl for the concluding that his gun was not forced into his mouth would voluntarily place thereby was the force een an autopsy photographs reveal no signs of struggle the broken teeth no record of it a missile force the size of it is highly unlikely that someone could have forced a gun into his mouth without some detectable injury there was also no evidence in his blog that he had been drawing or that he had consumed alcohol the physical evidence of further reveal them as the force to pull the trigger for example an autopsy photograph depicts a mark on his right arm consistent with the rebound of the trigger of a gun found in his hand at the firing moreover the photographs reveal the presence of gunpowder on a portion of his right index finger indicating that his hand was in the vicinity of the seller of the gun when it was fire

this evidence leads to the inescapable conclusion that mr foster committed suicide democrat john kerry of massachusetts is the statement made by special agent munroe to criticize those they said were responsible for spreading rumors that pollsters that might have been something other than a suicide in recent days jerry falwell has been describing most of foster's death is mysterious asking publicly whether it was a suicide and speculating breathlessly that it was a murder a wall street journal editorialized two days after his death that in the view of the newspaper he was quote an unlikely suicide and later the wall street journal described a report suggesting that he was murdered by a drug dealing cabal of military officers that appeared on august sixth in nineteen ninety three so this is why you know here we are full

of archive audio as late july thirteenth congressman from indiana as ben lillie feeling the congressional record with the most obscene roast the same accusations regarding this is well it's not just months ago members of the committee asked a series of questions about how the fbi proceeded with its investigation republican county mac focused on vincent foster's electronic age or what was found near his body instead of holding it as evidence it was turned over to the secret service if you'd had that page or would that have been helpful to you and what you've done with it if you have a ball i would have attempted to determine if there were any other it was any other information contained in the pages that might have persistent us in particular in trying to determine the supporters activities from one in four five thirty on on a tuesday afternoon sen mac continued his line of questioning this afternoon when two members of the us are police were called to

testify i'm concerned about the page you're being turned over to the to the white house i am aware that this is a normal procedure that figure was at the white house credentials on the page or recorded elise to pay to it on the record the white house couldn't look as unassuming given back to secret service an email ban the xerox the pager brand was recorded a name brand cereal number was recorded a pager was turned off as for the information on a pager where he could turn it off at any time if anybody paid to what was off it doesn't tell me anything but that pays enough to kill himself doesn't tell me anything and tell me what time to turn it off because he could've had his last page twenty thirty minutes before turn it off so at every turn out crazy there was a homicide fbi could've taken my report and take a serial number for the paper

company has subpoenaed a pager records and got all the calls that were caged in their day so an economy turn over secret service jacket and probably wants the white house has discovered at the credentials effort and a pager better security and proper procedure called a mop that wanted to come down and turned over to the left i recorded information they need to get from i have no further use for it because it was no anonymous source next week both the house and senate banking committees will continue their hearings on the washington aspects of white water then the focus will return to the white house and treasury department discussions of the madison savings and loan investigation again mark shields i'm going to go for some comment on this first week of whitewater hearings among other things all we think first of all comparing how would you compare the senate approach to the house approach this week i

welcome that the year i mean the senate compare to the house banking committee is more like the council of trent i mean they were they were serious they tried to elicit information believe in it compare to the house which was really a partisan scrap and seemingly designed to obscure information as much as as anything else sure the senators weren't the partisan introductions police and the question time they seem to want to be able to get the facts out and both democrats and republicans didn't so there seem to be a kind of a bipartisan effort here a serious effort in the house was just i was a mess really workin on the band's foster question do you think now that the issue of whether or not he killed himself is now aside accept the mind to appear crazy as at other folk i think the only except you know take your questions are few great thinkers what crazies than most of the us a world knowledge but i certainly think that orrin hatch a home and home there was no more partisan conservative

republican in the senate is david david and seven you got that said there's no credible evidence known conspiracy box already clean because i think that that they basically put in a way as far as serious discussions serious investigation and mike recall that serious discussion of those now gone there may be still some french style that's a i don't see a lot of evidence that that would suggest was anything other than the suicide and in fact these hearings are not focusing so much on that as on how the investigation itself was handled the mud events of interference with by political actors in the white house they're not really focusing on the question so much of whether or not in the nervousness as i think that question is pretty much but the but it was as as a senator kerry made the board and senator gardner the boy maybe not been the focus of a hearing of the royal a lot of talk of irresponsible of interest was talking you think that'll pretty much

and i'm actually lead to talk candidly and he did the more people will continue their part the degree of irresponsibility people will assume that they possess two of the world this alley a disproportionate miller says these kinds of hearings in the sense are helpful because they do put facts on the table and they undermine those people were burned off or conspiracy theories because this that shows that series people are trying to get to the bottom of the i think one of the mistakes the white house made from hunters foster from the beginning was a try to say don't look into it forget about it and that just feeds the people who want to farm on a bird that settlement does wherever whenever it happened this had to happen there had to be if you really want to put this there had to be these two fbi agents had to come and say what they said at all the other experts had become an epicenter of national television and to be tested before this in connection to the arrest in any serious way so it was necessary to interstate i think it's pretty useful purpose in white next week it moves back to and both the house and the senate go to

banking committees and move into these contacts between a between the white house the treasury and then going specifically fact senator graham said today so they did said robert altman and he was corrected as roger altman it's a latin name it we're going to be hearing a lot of we now have before the sinaloa which is he a target from this point on assignment like do you yes i think i think there's no question that her for the republicans outnumber republicans will call for is resignation to a candidate in a decline the senator from nevada democrat who's up for reelection himself in her recent gym in the senate ethics committee was the first democrat to call for his resignation i end of the year then the forum but i mean most of the gulf of mr altman says the senate banking committee that that's where he originally testified and where the amended the testimony was delivered so there was a certain it will be an adversarial relationship going in

between him and the committee but i'd say to lighten up to now white water has been about a productive politically for the republicans as it was financially for valerie plane's i don't think it i mean i have the polish write about the house committee to get fifty one members i don't know what to do except five minute moment that's a non indian you don't have some of the quick gavel like kicked him out but i'm in the senate the senate committee is a visible easily visit the small ago well the challenges are selected jim leach or two or three of the members of al qaeda thirty minutes twenty minutes take some time to develop on a quote a secondary whether they still had five minutes and then i would go over to a democrat who would vote which is the most of the year you couldn't it's very hard to get some continuity you're right the republicans did president of iran contra or there aren't they were turned over to a council who would do us a long series of destiny and of one question after another before it went over to the other side is a very

uneven with the members no way national television coverage to live with a head now today in this in the senate today is in the house we've got at least one day we know for you for sure the senate next week don't know for sure how many in the house but up to now the big event today a little bit in the senate not as much as on the house but the question was what do we really need these areas is there anything coming out of them what you think so that basic question of i think we do and i think that for all of the partisanship and the back and forth there's a factual record the bill appear that is useful and remember at the root of this is the question that some people in the resolution trust corporation office in kansas city regulators were looking into whitewater an arkansas feel they were somehow impose upon politically and so the questions of whether that carried all the way up to washington and the treasury department those are elephant and what we're doing is building up of

a record here to see happen it get deleted every white house makes the same these two diversionary too costly their way laos or even though the gracefulness kitchen i hear about that are you know might be the cause and i yes i mean i think they i think they were necessary i think they are helpful i did and then i think that they they probably will be our claim that the brain initiative or inattention sure they've you know i think it's part of the prices of conduct especially when you have one party controlling both the congress and the presidency and accountability is one the virtues of one party and responsibly but i think of being out and being scrutinized as is it just the price of of having that kind of how open up the part of both of you ah

ahh again the major stories of this friday president clinton decided to send two hundred us troops into rwanda help in the refugee relief effort they also proposed a massive increase in aid an anti abortion protesters being held in pensacola florida for the shotgun killing of two workers at an abortion clinic and house democratic leaders proposed a health reform bill that would phase in universal coverage by nineteen ninety nine employers would pay the bulk of their workers insurance and expanded medicare would cover the poor and unemployed imagine cannot robin have a nice weekend was a on monday night on jim lehrer thank you and goodnight ms beach yeah and my new york like yet another example of new york lives wise investment philosophy and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by the annual financial support from viewers

like you it is many thanks video cassettes of the macneil lehrer newshour are available from pbs video call one eight hundred three to eight pbs won thousands