The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

JIM LEHRER: Good evening, I'm Jim Lehrer. On the NewsHour tonight, a Super Tuesday preview, with a Terence Smith report on the media war in California, plus overall analysis by Elizabeth Arnold, David Broder and Ron Brownstein. Then Ray Suarez updates the situation in Kosovo with a U.N. official and a NATO military commander. It all follows our summary of the news this Monday.

NEWS SUMMARY

JIM LEHRER: The presidential candidates did their last campaigning for Super Tuesday today. On the Republican side, polls had Governor Bush leading Senator McCain in most of the states holding primaries and caucuses, including California. And Vice President Gore was ahead of Bill Bradley in all of the Democratic contests. We'll have more on the campaigns right after this News Summary. Three policemen were convicted today in the Abner Louima case in New York. The Haitian immigrant was attacked in a precinct bathroom in 1997. A federal jury in Brooklyn found the officers guilty of attempting a cover-up. One of the three had been convicted last year of holding Louima down during the assault. A fourth officer is serving 30 years for his role. In Mozambique today, aid workers struggled to distribute food, water and medical supplies to flood survivors. We have a report from Robert Moore of Independent Television News.

ROBERT MOORE, ITN: The waters are receding, and our worst fears are being realized. The bodies of those drowned in these terrible floodwaters here are now being found. They are also being quickly buried amid growing fears of a cholera outbreak that could sweep through the ranks of the weakened survivors. But at least this ravaged country is finally seeing some front-line aid. It's become a battle to contain disease and combat severe dehydration and hunger. And today everywhere we looked, we saw the destruction of people's livelihoods. The stranded cattle that are the only wealth and security they have are now collapsing. It is not just distressing, it signifies economic catastrophe. So does the near total loss of the area's maize crop. Next month is meant to see the harvest. Now the people here have become utterly reliant on international aid. The last marooned survivors are also emerging. This was a family we found while flying at low-level in an area where the rescue teams had said no one else was left alive. They had eaten nothing, they said in six days and they were drinking the contaminated floodwater. They had survived, but their ordeal is just beginning, for they have lost everything in a natural disaster that has shown no mercy to some of the world's poorest people.

JIM LEHRER: An estimated 250,000 people are crowded into 72 makeshift camps. Mozambique's president said they'd be dependent on food from the outside world for at least ten months. Syria today criticized Israel's decision to withdraw from South Lebanon. The Israeli cabinet voted yesterday to bring the troops home by July, even without a peace agreement. An official newspaper in Damascus said it's an attempt to drive a wedge between Syria and Lebanon. In Washington, a State Department spokesman asked about the Israeli move.

SPOKESMAN: First of all, I've been very clear that we would like to see a negotiated settlement, number one; but if you ask whether, as you did, we would oppose Israel's withdrawal, let me state for the record that we voted for UN Security Council Resolution 425, which calls on Israel to withdraw from Lebanon. And we stand by that vote.

JIM LEHRER: The Hezbollah guerrillas in the area called the decision a "historic defeat for Israel, after 15 years of occupying Southern Lebanon. A U.S. Immigration officer was arraigned today on charges of spying for Cuba. Mariano Fyatt pleaded not guilty in federal court in Miami. He's a 30-year veteran of the Immigration & Naturalization Service. He allegedly gave classified information on defectors to Cuban intelligence agents. A jetliner skidded off a runway last night in Burbank, California, and just missed a gas station. The Southwest Airlines plane barreled through a retaining wall before it stopped in the middle of a street. 142 people were on board, but no one was seriously hurt. There's no word on the cause of the accident. And that's it for the News Summary tonight. Now it's on to the primary races in California; some preview reporting on all of tomorrow's contests; and a Kosovo update.

FOCUS - CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

JIM LEHRER: The presidential nominating races: Media Correspondent Terence Smith begins our coverage with a report from California, the biggest prize in tomorrow's 16-state primary votes.

SPOKESMAN: California.

SPOKESMAN: California.

SPOKESMAN: California.

SPOKESMAN: California!

TERENCE SMITH: They are all California dreamin'. This is the modern California gold rush, with candidates panning for the largest single bloc of delegates of any presidential primary. Make-or-break, do-or-die: All the clich s apply.

SHERRY BEBITCH JEFFE, Claremont Graduate University: California could well determine the nominees of both major parties for President of the United States.

TERENCE SMITH: Sherry Bebitch Jeffe is a political scientist at Claremont Graduate University.

SHERRY BEBITCH JEFFE: Particularly on the Republican side, California's delegates account for about 20% of the delegates necessary for the nomination: On the Republican side, 162 delegates, winner- take-all. Here we are in play this year in a way that we haven't been in play for almost 40 years on the Republican side, and almost 30 on the Democratic side.

TERENCE SMITH: With its rich ethnic stew, its geographic size and population of 32 million, California is a kind of electoral Everest. Bill Carrick is a veteran Democratic consultant.

BILL CARRICK, Democratic Political Consultant: We have a lot of rank-and- file blue-collar labor voters. We have a significant number of African American voters, Asian voters, Latino voters. We have Democrats as conservative as any you find in South Carolina, and Democrats as liberal as the Italian Communist Party.

TERENCE SMITH: The polls on primary eve give the advantage here to the national front-runners, Texas Governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. But political sentiment can undergo seismic shifts in this volatile state.

SPOKESPERSON: I want you to put this in the ballot box.

TERENCE SMITH: This year, the California primary is more important than ever. It's been moved up three months from its traditional June date, and the votes will be counted two different ways: A "beauty contest" for most total votes, open to all voters; and the selection of delegates to the national conventions, which is limited to the registered voters of the respective parties.

BILL CARRICK: John McCain could win and lose on the same day. George Bush could win and lose on the same day. Vice President Gore could win-win on the same day, which is a pretty likely outcome. He may be the top vote-getter as Bradley's votes go down. Gore may be the top vote-getter overall, of all the candidates, plus get a pretty strong share of the delegates, although the Democratic delegates are proportionately selected, so there is no winner take all - you know - wipe out effect.

ALLEN HOFENBLUM, Republican Political Strategist: My feeling is whoever wins the open primary in California will be the one giving the acceptance speech in Philadelphia.

TERENCE SMITH: Alan Hoffenblum is a Republican strategist and editor of the Target Report, a bible of California politics. He believes John McCain will do well in the popular vote contest.

ALLEN HOFFENBLUM: California Republicans, California voters in general, like these populists. Here in California we tend to be suspicious of government. So when a candidate comes across or has that populous, anti-government "throw the rascals out" let's clean up government, that's always had an appeal here in California.

TERENCE SMITH: Despite California's central importance in tomorrow's coast- to-coast voting, the presidential primary has not been the big news in Los Angeles this past week. Local television coverage has focused on the ongoing scandal in the police department, the Reagans' 48th anniversary kiss, and a report on the invitations to the upcoming Oscars.

SPOKESMAN: Very intense rain being reported...

TERENCE SMITH: And the biggest news of all, the weather. For Karl Rove, the chief strategist for the Bush campaign, it's a frustrating climate.

KARL ROVE, Chief Strategist, Bush Campaign: Well, it's a tough state to campaign in. First of all, they're not very political. Californians have lots of other things on their minds beside politics. And second of all, it's a very tough state to break into the major media markets. I mean, Los Angeles, in which 46% of the Republican primary voters live, is virtually impossible to get coverage. We'll spend millions of dollars, and basically have enough television slots for people to see roughly two spots and remember them, and that's it.

TERENCE SMITH: This is the California conundrum. The state is so large and complex, with so many media markets and the local political coverage so miserly, especially in the Los Angeles area, that the candidates are forced to rely on costly paid advertisements to get their messages out.

BILL BRADLEY: I think everybody in America should have access to quality health care.

TERENCE SMITH: And spend they have. According to the nonpartisan campaign media analysis group, the candidate at the bottom of the polls, Bill Bradley, spent over $3.5 million on commercials in California through the middle of last week.

AL GORE: I want to be President in order to fight for you.

TERENCE SMITH: Vice President Gore, resting on a comfortable lead, spent just under $3 million.

ANNOUNCER: Governor George W. Bush, he is a once-in- a-generation leader ...

TERENCE SMITH: On the Republican side, the well-funded George W. Bush spent $2.9 million on ads.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN: You can't turn on your TV without seeing an ad from the establishment trying to fool you about me.

TERENCE SMITH: John McCain trailed with $2.4 million. But how effective are the ads? Consultant Bill Carrick questioned the message of this Bill Bradley ad featuring basketball star Michael Jordan.

MICHAEL JORDAN: That's why I'm supporting Bill Bradley for President. Shouldn't you?

BILL CARRICK: I've had colleagues who focus-grouped this ad and have found among younger voters, because Michael Jordan has done so many professional endorsements, that they couldn't really distinguish whether this was just another endorsement by Michael Jordan, as opposed to an actual political endorsement.

ANNOUNCER: He's taken on the worst polluters in America.

TERENCE SMITH: On the other hand, Carrick admired the targeted message of this Gore ad.

BILL CARRICK: It's a very good California ad. It's right on the issues that people care about here. And it not only is it good in the primary, but it sort of turns the corner toward the general election, and positions him well for his potential Republican opponent.

TERENCE SMITH: Among the Republicans, a controversy erupted during the weekend over an ad independently funded by wealthy Bush supporters in Texas, attacking John McCain's record on the environment.

ANNOUNCER: Last year, john McCain voted against solar and renewable energy. That means more use of coal- burning plants that pollute our air.

TERENCE SMITH: Senator McCain immediately cried foul, and demanded that the Bush campaign pull the ads.

SPOKESPERSON: Do you think you should stop these ads?

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: You know, let me say something to you. People have the right to run ads. They have the right to do what they want to do under the First Amendment in America. I don't think these ads are particularly helpful to me.

SPOKESPERSON: So you have a right to ask them to stop.

TERENCE SMITH: Today in California, Senator McCain tried to turn the ad against Governor Bush.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN: And we ask Governor Bush to do what he refused to do all day yesterday on nationwide television, and tell his sleazy Texas buddies to stop these negative ads. Take your money back to Texas where it belongs. Don't try and corrupt... (Cheering)... And don't try, don't try to corrupt American politics with your money. (Cheers and applause)

TERENCE SMITH: From the early days in New Hampshire to here in the California primary, John McCain's campaign has thrived on the oxygen of free-media press coverage. In Los Angeles, he interrupted his campaigning to tape an edition of the MSNBC political talk show, "Hardball" here at the University of Southern California campus.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN: We want to be a big party. We want to reach out to these young people; we want them with us. We want them to be part of this great experiment. That's what this campaign is all about.

TERENCE SMITH: That same relentless pursuit of free media led both Republicans to attempt some humor on the late-night talk shows.

DAVID LETTERMAN: I know that campaigning is difficult work. How do you look so youthful and rested?

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: Fake it.

DAVID LETTERMAN: And that's pretty much how you're going to run the country?

JAY LENO: You consider yourself a confrontational guy?

SEN. JOHN McCAIN: Not at all. Every year in the Senate I win miss congeniality. It's usually a unanimous vote.

TERENCE SMITH: Bill Bradley, who once joked that he'd have to rob a bank to get the media's attention, even took to calling reporters on Al Gore's campaign bus. Exceptions to the rule in California include the state's big newspapers, like the "Los Angeles Times," which has featured extensive campaign coverage, and that staple of the traffic-clogged Los Angeles area, talk radio. Michael Jackson is a veteran host.

MICHAEL JACKSON: We began with our conversation with Governor George W. Bush of Texas. We heard an extract of the conversation held earlier this morning with Senator McCain. We heard a replay of our conversation with Senator Bill Bradley.

TERENCE SMITH: A crucial component in this primary, and even more in the general election, is the fast- growing California Latino vote. It has doubled in the last decade, and could constitute 15% of the total in the fall. Sherry Bebitch Jeffe:

SHERRY BEBITCH JEFFE: Well, this year the Latino voter is the equivalent of the soccer mom. Latino vote will have a significant effect on this primary.

TERENCE SMITH: No surprise, then, that the candidates have made their way to the Los Angeles headquarters of Univision. KMEX, its flagship station, is the number one affiliate in the region, outstripping all the English-language stations. In separate appearances, the candidates demonstrated their varying levels of fluency in Spanish.. (Speaking Spanish) And several have run Spanish- language TV ads, the first in a presidential primary. Governor Bush, who attracted 49% of the Hispanic vote in his last race in Texas, returned to Univision two weeks ago to conduct a statewide satellite town hall meeting, the first by any presidential candidate. (Speaking Spanish) Rosa Maria Villalpando, the political reporter for KMEX, believes all the attention is having an impact on the Latino voter.

ROSA MARIE VILLALPANDO: People are listening. What's out there? The thing I got is that they feel that they are now... They can be a part of the system, and they are listening. They are deciding who's going to be... Who talks better, you know, to their needs?

TERENCE SMITH: Apart from the Latino vote, Sherry Bebitch Jeffe believes this primary has a significance beyond tomorrow's balloting.

SHERRY BEBITCH JEFFE: This blanket primary is as close as we're going to come to a dress-rehearsal for November. It is the purest test of all the major candidates, and that will count for something.

TERENCE SMITH: And it seems that the California public may sense that. State officials are projecting the largest primary turnout in 16 years.

FOCUS - CAMPAIGN REPORT

JIM LEHRER: Now some overview thoughts about tomorrow, and to Margaret Warner.

MARGARET WARNER: When voters go to the polls tomorrow in California and 15 other states across the country, they'll be choosing more than half the delegates needed to win both the Democratic and Republican nominations. Some perspective now from three longtime political reporters who've been covering this campaign: NewsHour regular Elizabeth Arnold of National Public Radio, David Broder of the "Washington Post," and Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times."

Elizabeth, I should have mentioned you and Ron are out there in California. What would you ad to Terry's piece? How does it feel on the ground to you out there in these final days?

ELIZABETH ARNOLD: I would probably... I was just saying this to Ron here in California -- I'd say the sense that this place is really the decisive vote tomorrow I think is a misnomer. I think it was several weeks ago but I think the writing is sort of on the wall here and everyone is actually looking to New York.

MARGARET WARNER: And, Ron, McCain had hoped at least-- I mean, I think Elizabeth is certainly right in terms of the Republican vote. But in this blanket primary we heard so much about, McCain had hoped until a few days ago that maybe he could at least win that -- that kind of symbolic victory. What happened?

RON BROWNSTEIN: Well, they were hoping for a split decision at best. I'm sorry, at worst. Where Bush, because of the closed nature of the actual delegate portion of the primary,only Republican votes count on that side for the actual allocation of delegates. Bush has a very clear advantage there, Margaret. This electorate in California, the Republican electorate, is much more conservative than is usually imagined. About two-thirds of the Republican voters call themselves conservatives, a slightly higher percentage than in South Carolina. So that's pretty difficult terrain for McCain. What they were hoping was, they would get a big crossover vote that might allow them to get past Bush. And while that still is on the outside realm of possibility, what's happened basically is that you have a Democratic primary here on the same day. Most Democrats are going to vote for Al Gore, some for Bill Bradley. That reduces the crossover. That's going to be a factor tomorrow also in Missouri, Ohio, and Georgia -- states that do have an open primary, you can theoretically have a crossover for McCain. But with an actual Democratic vote going on it's going to be harder for him to bring those people over to his side.

MARGARET WARNER: Before we move to New York, Elizabeth, let me go back to you because I know you've been out with Bush today. Do Bush and his people reflect this confidence?

ELIZABETH ARNOLD: I'd say yes. He's looking much more like a general election candidate, Margaret. Yesterday and today his speeches were laced to references of the fall: What I'm going to do in the fall. This is an issue: Education. He said today actually at a news conference, education is an issue that really differentiates me from Vice President Al Gore, who I'll be facing in the fall. I mean, he's really... although he's not taking any votes for granted here, he's really looking ahead and acting like a candidate who is thinking much more about the general election than what happens tomorrow.

MARGARET WARNER: All right. David, turning to New York, you've been there recently. What's happening there in the final days?

DAVID BRODER: Well, New York is a little more complicated story because it's really 31 separate primaries, and each of that number of congressional districts Governor Bush has Governor George Pataki of New York running interference for him. In New York, you really do have an old-fashioned patronage-fed party organization. And they have been pumping it up for Bush for a number of weeks now. There's no such McCain effort except in Staten Island where Guy Molinari, the bureau president, is for him and a few of his friends in New York City are also helping out. There will probably be a split verdict on the delegates, but I think it's going to be a surprise to most New York politicians if George W. Bush doesn't win most of them.

MARGARET WARNER: Ron, what has caused-- I mean, you've been out there with both of these candidates. What has caused McCain to seem to lose ground, at least in the polls? We have to admit we're going with these polls in these final days. I mean he is saying a lot of the same things.

RON BROWNSTEIN: Actually I think, Margaret, he's gotten away from what has made him strong. What made McCain strong was a broad reform message that attracted a lot of people who had been, you know, disaffected from the system and also a personal story of heroism and strength that gave people the sense that this was someone who could shake up politics as usual. Even through Michigan he faced a big problem looking forward of not being able to crack into core Republican voters and trailing them 2-to-1. What's happened, I think, since Michigan has exacerbated his problems on both end of the equation. By getting into such pointed conflicts with Bush over the conduct of the campaign and then with Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell over their place in the Republican Party, he's both deep in his problem among Republicans, deep in the sense among many core Republican voters that this guy isn't really one of us and I think even more importantly lost some of his appeal to those independent, less partisan voters who are attracted to a non-political style as they are to the message. And the idea of this guy being caught in a daily rat-a-tat tat with Bush, as he himself has put it in the past, I think he loses every day he's doing that even if he gets the better of the argument. McCain has to convince a portion of the electorate that doesn't usually like politicians that he is not a typical politician, and I think he's lost ground on that front.

MARGARET WARNER: Now, Elizabeth, there are also these ads-- Terry showed some of them; there have been some by the Bush campaign, others - this independent expenditure -- attacking McCain on specific things in his voting record-- do you think those are having a big impact?

ELIZABETH ARNOLD: I actually think what I'd take issue with something that Ron just said. He's back, although he's still talking about process, he is back on track because Bush handed him this issue, an issue ad run by one of Bush's friends, which it's exactly what he started his campaign, he based his campaign on, on issue advocacy. He's a different candidate entirely, Margaret. For a couple of weeks he was just totally off stride. Last night in a San Francisco suburb he was back, he was railing against the party establishment, the big money and we've got to take back our government. And that's exactly what sort of launched his campaign in the first place in New Hampshire. So I would say for McCain inadvertently it's been a blessing.

MARGARET WARNER: How do you see this, David, in terms of why McCain's lost some ground and whether this is the final moments he's returning to his old theme....

DAVID BRODER: I would agree with what both Elizabeth... Have been saying. But the thing that surprised me because that it's taken until really this last ten days for the Bush campaign to dig into John McCain's 17 years of voting in the Congress and pick out a few votes, a handful of votes really, that are embarrassing to him in particular states. We've heard a lot about the cancer ads in New York, but in Connecticut they're talking about his votes against Seawolf submarines, against Amtrak subsidies. In state after state they've found these particular issues. I have to say, you know, whether it's the Bush campaign or some, quote-unquote, independent expenditures, the man's voting record is fair game in a political race.

MARGARET WARNER: Let me ask you also why do you think the one place McCain still seems to be doing well is New England.

DAVID BRODER: Well, the capital of New England is Boston in media terms. And Boston Television was a center for the New Hampshire campaign coverage and advertising. People in Massachusetts, in neighboring Vermont, Rhode Island, saw exactly the same campaign unfold on television that the voters of New Hampshire did. What they saw was that dynamic reform heroic John McCain against the George Bush who was a pretty scripted fellow at that point in the campaign. And I think that effect is still there.

MARGARET WARNER: Ron, how much in these final days, then, are we seeing the outline of the fall campaign?

RON BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think we're only beginning to, in fact, Margaret. George Bush has ended up this primary campaign and in fact it does end tomorrow. If McCain does win New York it will not, but Bush is in a very different place very different from where he thought he was going to be. I mean, I think in many ways he is running against John McCain -- much of the campaign he thought that someone like Steve Forbes might run against him. Bush started off as the one who was going to broaden the party and bring in independents and Democrats with a message of compassionate conservatism. And, instead, he ends up as the defender of the party base against the infidel talking, you know, a lot about tax cuts and having to deal with his relationship with religious conservatives. Now, he is beginning to move back toward his general election themes. You know, Elizabeth mentioned him talking about education. He will be probably more comfortable talking about education than any Republican nominee we've had in a long time. He still has very significant centrist assets he can use to reposition himself vis- -vis Gore if he is the nominee in the general election. But he has clearly created some problems for himself over the last couple of months in the way he's had to win this nomination. It's left him, I think, in a more traditional box. He looks like a more conventional Republican nominee than he thought he was going to be. And that's entirely a function of the way he's had to go out and consolidate the base to offset McCain's extraordinary strength in the center and with left partisan voters.

MARGARET WARNER: Elizabeth, do you agree that if McCain wins New York tomorrow and one would assume then New England, what's your reading of his intentions then?

ELIZABETH ARNOLD: Oh, I don't think this is a man who goes quietly into the night, Margaret. I think that we're in for several more contests. I think we'll be looking at Florida. We'll be looking at Illinois. I don't think any of us will be getting the sleep that we've been thinking we'll be getting. I think he's in it for the duration. By contrast, I think you saw Bill Bradley the other night in a Democratic debate who was thinking about perhaps exiting from the race and thinking about his legacy in terms of the campaign and wanting to go out with his head held high. I think McCain is a fighter. And he's in it for the long haul.

MARGARET WARNER: How do you see that, David?

DAVID BRODER: Well, he is a fighter. But you have to have delegates to keep fighting. And New York and Ohio represent his best chances for large pots of delegates. If the polls are right, he may come up short in those two states. But it's going to be a remarkable scene if and when John McCain has to go back to the United States Senate. I've been thinking about that Tuesday luncheon of Republican Senators where Trent Lott will probably graciously introduce him as, "you folks all remember our colleague John McCain. John, tell us what you've been telling the folks out there in the country about us." That's going to be a wonderful moment.

MARGARET WARNER: Ron, yesterday I think McCain said he figured that Trent Lott, thought it was a lose-lose for him. McCain would be president or he'd be back in the Senate.

RON BROWNSTEIN: I think I'd rather have him back in the Senate actually.

MARGARET WARNER: It is a tough calendar immediately ahead for John McCain, isn't it, even if he does quite well tomorrow?

RON BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. Basically, Margaret, the terrain gets very tough for him after tomorrow. It's very hard to imagine any scenario where Bush does not win more delegates tomorrow. In fact with California in his hip pocket, Missouri, Georgia, Maryland, even Ohio, very strong, he's going to come out of tomorrow with more delegates than McCain under any scenario. Then the next nine states that vote Friday and Tuesday, three mountain states on Friday, six southern states on Tuesday, Bush has got to be favored in all of them. And the overwhelmingly likelihood is which the end of March 14 he will be 80 to 90 percent of the way -- of the total he needs of the 1,034 delegates he needs to be the nominee. Now, McCain at that point -- the calendar moves back North - Elizabeth mentioned Illinois on the 21st. We go to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. McCain would basically -- could conceivably if he wins New York survive this nine-state wipeout over the next week and make a last stand in Illinois -- perhaps then if he wins there going on to places like Pennsylvania. But he would be living permanently on the edge of elimination. And it would be very, very difficult. The irony is that the California - the effort to create a blanket primary to bring in independents and Democrats was unacceptable to the national parties. We ended up with a closed primary in which only Republicans can vote. And that could be the pivot in this race given the way in which the differences in the kinds of coalitions these two men attract. That could be the single most important deciding factor nationally.

MARGARET WARNER: All right. Well, thank you, Ron, Elizabeth, and David.

JIM LEHRER: And still to come on the NewsHour tonight, a Kosovo update.

FOCUS - KEEPING ORDER

JIM LEHRER: Finally tonight, an update on Kosovo, and to Ray Suarez.

RAY SUAREZ: Before last year's Kosovo war, ethnic Serbs and Albanians worked and lived side by side in Mitrovica, a mining town in northern Kosovo. But today it's the site of recurring ethnic tensions, a bitterly divided city that residents call the last battlefield of the war. A year ago this month, after months of warnings to the Serbs to stop their repression of the majority ethnic Albanians, NATO allies began their 11-week bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. Tens of thousands of Albanians were forced from their homes and villages by Serb security forces. By June, Slobodan Milosevic's army had left Kosovo, and ethnic Albanians began returning to their homes. Most of the Serbs fled to Serbia proper, though thousands remained in the North and in Mitrovica. The Albanians demanded an independent Kosovo, but the allies in effect made the Serb province a United Nations protectorate. Bernard Kouchner, a former French cabinet minister, was named U.N. Special Representative, supervising refugee and other humanitarian issues. The international peacekeeping force, made up of mostly NATO nations, is under the command of German General Klaus Reinhardt. Mitrovica's bloodshed, which drew international attention back to Kosovo, began February 2, when two elderly Serbs were killed by a grenade explosion on a U.N. bus. Over the next two weeks, at least seven Albanians died from Serb counterattacks and clashes with French members of the NATO peacekeeping force known as KFOR. In late February, as many as 50,000 Albanians marched into Mitrovica from 17 miles away.

SPOKESMAN: (speaking through interpreter) We will go as far as Belgrade, if we have to. They did not solve the situation in Mitrovica, so that is why we, the youth, are heading there.

RAY SUAREZ: The protesters ended up at the Ibar River, the city's geographic and ethnic dividing line. Today, mostly Albanians live in the South, Serbs to the North. In an effort to contain the violence in Mitrovica, U.S. General Wesley Clark, the supreme NATO commander, has asked for 2,000 more soldiers. France, Britain, and Belgium said they are willing to provide additional troops. But Secretary of State Albright said the U.S. Is waiting for the Europeans to act first.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: The United States has the largest number of troops in the area, so we do believe-- or in Kosovo as a whole-- that we are definitely doing our part. But I don't exclude the fact that there may have to be some Americans. But I think in the first instance, we are looking to others to plus-up their forces.

RAY SUAREZ: U.S. officials also have asked the Europeans to push ahead more quickly in establishing an international police force to take on more of the load of maintaining order in the few places left in Kosovo where Serbs and Albanians live together.

RAY SUAREZ: Joining us are Bernard Kouchner, special representative of the U.N. Secretary-General, and head of the U.N. administration in Kosovo; and KFOR commander General Klaus Reinhardt.

Gentlemen, welcome to the program. I understand that you both briefed the Security Council on the situation in Kosovo. Mr. Kouchner, let's begin with you. What did you have to tell the representatives about the situation in the province?

BERNARD KOUCHNER: Well, it was the first time that a civilian and a military involved person were together. I have to tell them that despite of some very important incidents, things were getting better. Security, building administration, opening of the schools, all the schools, 90% of the persons are going to school, of the children -- universities, bank system, rebuilding, et cetera. But, of course, we needed and it was my main concern to be backed by the Security Council, to be supported politically and of course in terms of means. So we addressed them a question about the elections. This year local election, it was the answer. About the missing persons, this is very important to rebuild or build tolerance in Kosovo, that we need absolutely news from missing person. They agreed, the Security Council agrees about sort of special envoy on this issue -- and about the backing I offer them to come to Kosovo, to the Security Council meeting in Kosovo, not all of them but some of them coming to us and discovering with us the reality. It has been agreed.

RAY SUAREZ: And, General Reinhardt, what could you tell the Security Council about the military situation?

GEN. KLAUS REINHARDT: I told them basically two things. The most important one I think is how closely we work together between the military and UNMEC... I had my experiences in Somalia in UNPROFOR, in IFOR and SFOR, the two halves of one element never worked so closely together as Bernard Kouchner and myself, and I think this is a very positive sign. On the other hand, I told them about the major feature of my KFOR troops are responsible for the security, which has been improved considerably over the last nine months. We're down to four to three murders per week for about two million inhabitants. That's not so bad. We have reduced kidnapping almost entirely. We reduced crime as far as looting and arson is concerned, but we still have spikes like we just had in Mitrovica, which are highly concerned for me, which we have to fight against. But basically the key problem we have to deal with is a mental attitude of two ethnic groups, the Albanians on one side and the Serbs on the other side, who are an antagonistic group full of animosity, of fear for revenge, of hatred, which cannot be taken away by soldiers being on the ground in that short period of time. Afterwhat both groups have done to each other, it takes a longer time. We have to look in longer time frames than just a couple of months. And, therefore, we'll have to stay there for quite a while.

RAY SUAREZ: If there are still elements of both groups who are willing, who want to attack each other, are soldiers really able to do this job long term, or are you making progress on having a regular conventional police force drawn from the local population to either assist you or to take over many of these duties?

GEN. KLAUS REINHARDT: Well, there's a mixture. I mean, the soldiers on the one hand are doing their job, and by their sheer presence, by running 750 patrols a day, about 500 checkpoints a day, by about 5,000 soldiers being just out to support the minorities, we do a great job. In addition to that, we have the ANMIC police officers. We still miss about 3,000. We have to substitute for them. At the same time, Bernard Kouchner is building up a Kosovo police force. We have a Kosovo police academy. We have the second group, which just graduated. All of that together forms the security forces so we haven't matched our goal yet, but I think we all try very hard to do the utmost possible in that country.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, Mr. Kouchner, if the general's forces detain someone or an officer in the new police department arrests someone, do you have courts yet? Do you have the framework of a civil administration now?

BERNARD KOUCHNER: Framework of a civil administration, yes. Good judiciary system, unfortunately not. We named close to 400 judges, prosecutors, lay judges. But in Kosovo they are not confident with justice. First, nobody is complaining. Nobody is addressing the prosecutor or the lawyers or the judges. How does this kind of confidence for years and years? They were oppressed. They have no tradition on complaining and going to justice and to court. Second, unfortunately, they all remain partial on both sides, either the Serbs or the Albanians. So we have to deal with an international justice backing the Kosovo system of... the judiciary system. This is another offer to the international community: We need judges, international judges and prosecutors. Unfortunately for the moment we did our best but it is not functioning enough. But please, don't forget that only eight months, only we were in charge since eight months. We are in charge just for the beginning of the peace process. The peace process used to take years and years, and the time of building confidence, rebuilding an administration, changing the behavioral of the people is not a majestic time. It is not fitting with the impatience. People are in a hurry. We are in a hurry to consider our result. We are also in a hurry. But remember Beirut, remember Lebanon, remember Salvador, remember Vietnam, remember Ireland-- it takes time. Give time a chance to build peace.

RAY SUAREZ: Do you think you were fully aware of the level of hostility between these groups? Are there elements of the framework that you had gone there to implement that perhaps looked about right last year but looked too optimistic now?

BERNARD KOUCHNER: Well, I remain optimistic, but you are right. The international community came to protect the Albanians against ethnic cleansing. And we discovered that hidden by this minority other minorities like the Serbs, the Turkish, the Bosnians must be protected. We have to protect them. This is our duty, and we were not prepared enough to this particular task, to this particular goal, to this particular duty. You are right. But now we are completely consumed by this mission. Of course it drives us to this very difficult task of rebuilding confidence. The Serbs must be backed in their, let's say, the rest of the confidence. We don't want to expel them. On the contrary, we have to protect them, to ask them to come back. And on the other hand, on the other side, we need to light up the future for all the Albanians of Kosovo. And this is what we address to the Security Council. Another concern about starting political-- because as we are going on the election, it will be a good time to ask the Albanians, all the minorities in Kosovo, with us to start discussing the status of protection of the minorities. What is a minority? What should be done on protection of minorities?

RAY SUAREZ: Do you have the proper tools in place from the United Nations to know what you are guiding this province to, what form of relationship with Belgrade, what kind of local administration -- will you have local people in place running the day-to-day affairs of Kosovo soon?

BERNARD KOUCHNER: Yes. It was very useful for these purposes -- running Kosovo with a joint administration, which started three to four months ago. First, in getting together the Albanian leaders. Then we are waiting for the Serbs. I hope they will come. When? I don't know. They told us that they were coming. We are waiting for the Serbs. But, second the relationship with Belgrade -- we are having a high level of meetings with the Belgrade representative, Mr. Vukitovic, in Kosovo. We are meeting him or his people twice a week, several times. I phoned him on Friday about this issue of a working group on the, let's say, our common purposes. I'm not dealing directly with Belgrade, but there is a special envoy and a group of people who we are dealing with.

RAY SUAREZ: General Reinhardt, do you have the tools that you need for the job, day-to-day... Are you able to have most of the province be a safe place to do business, to go to work, to go to school?

GEN. KLAUS REINHARDT: Well, I think basically I have what I need. I have about 31,000 NATO troops and about 7,700 non-NATO troops at my disposal. I can engage them where I see fit. We have to constantly readjust the forces and their disposition to the situation, as we see fit. It might be that on the long run, we have to change a little bit the composition of the forces but basically yes I'm happy with what I have today.

RAY SUAREZ: General Reinhardt, Bernard Kouchner, thank you both.

RECAP

JIM LEHRER: Again, the major stories of this Monday: The presidential candidates did their last campaigning for Super Tuesday, and three policemen were convicted of an attempted cover- up in the Abner Louima case in New York. The Haitian immigrant was attacked in a precinct bathroom in 1997. Qualify we go a photo correction. In the News Summary tonight we reported a U.S. immigration official pleaded not guilty to charges he spied for Cuba, but the picture we showed was of a Cuban diplomat, not that immigration officer. We regret the error. And we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. Thank you and good night.