The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

it's been nice but our good at now jim lehrer on the newshour tonight full coverage of the decision to avoid a major supreme court look at affirmative action an overview of the economic crisis in asia boss looks at the situations in south korea and the philippines excerpt from the news conference by chinese dissident wei change chung and our regular political analysis by mark shields and boldly go it all falls on some really knows this friday for up to an atm fee to the world is the biggest challenge of the new century because by the time this baby is old enough to vote the world will have nearly two billion dollars to the world there's a landline your life or the company that was built with integrity and humanity and strike these are the values that have made in your

life the company keeper and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by the annual financial support from viewers like you united nations arms inspectors including americans returned to iraq today they're expected to resume their work tomorrow monitoring the destruction over racks biological and chemical weapons president clinton called the return an important achievement he spoke this afternoon at the white house they must be able to proceed with their work without interference to find to destroy to prevent iraq from the building nuclear chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to carry them but there've been almost it must be constantly vigilant and resolute and with our friends and partners we must be especially determined to prevent saddam's ability to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction program in new jersey

today there was a settlement of an important affirmative action case scheduled to go before the us supreme court in january the agreement between the piscataway school board an all white teacher was reached last night's civil rights groups offered to pay seventy percent of the more than four hundred and thirty thousand dollars settlement the case stems from the board's decision to lay off the white teacher and stubble black teacher who had taught that the same amount of time we'll have more on this story right after the news summary president clinton signed the food and drug administration reform bill into law today it's aimed at speeding up the approval of new drugs and medical devices for life threatening illnesses vice president gore spoke at the white house ceremony from over the counter aspirin to life saving new drugs and therapies from cutting edge new medical devices to simple health claims on the food we serve our families the fda is our guarantee of safety quality and effectiveness for this reason reforming the fda ensuring that it can meet the challenges of the twenty first century is both a

crucial and a delicate that's our food and drug agency must always keep pace with the astonishing advances in our science and medicine to protect and improve the health of our people north korea agreed to date to attend a four way peace talks next month in geneva the announcement was made in a joint statement by representatives of the united states china and north and south korea the talks are aimed at forging a lasting peace on the korean peninsula and armistice an armistice ended the korean war in nineteen fifty three a formal peace treaty was never signed the government of south korea today asked the international monetary fund for a twenty billion dollar loan the finance minister said the mine was needed to stem a deepening financial crisis will have more on this story and other asian economic problems later in the program the son of the late comer secretary ron brown was fined five thousand dollars and placed on three years probation today michael brown pleaded guilty last august of

making anti illegal campaign contributions to senator edward kennedy's money for reelection effort the judge also ordered brown to perform a hundred and fifty hours of community service the sec here the army today denied republican charges that politics influenced the barrios at arlington national cemetery in arlington is the only military cemetery where civilians may be buried but only after they had been granted a waiver attend the ministrations of proof sixty nine such waivers at a pentagon news conference army secretary togo west said the charges the contributions to the democratic party were a factor first just not true a house veterans affairs subcommittee is trying to hold hearings on the waiver issue in december the senate committee is also considering hearings on the setup wood story today the largest of the seven will call a baby's was taken off a ventilator kenneth was the first delivered in the des moines hospital this afternoon his mother bonnie made her first public appearance since converts he spoke to reporters with her husband kenny he was asked about holding ghana for the first time it was

so unexpected first to identify with the village from a ventilator says soon resisting taking away and if we have the arms little different hair color i'm natalie is going to be a bomb and nathan might be a bomb and also that the others have pretty dark hair the city of the babies will be able to go home in january the crew of the space shuttle columbia left a ten million dollars satellite did in space today the satellite called spartan was successfully deployed a second home but now function within minutes and could not be retrieved by the shuttle's fifty foot robotic arm and that's it for this summer tonight now it's on to an affirmative action of all about the asian economic story a chinese

dissident and shields and she go phil ponce as the affirmative action star in nineteen eighty the piscataway new jersey school board hired to business teachers one black and one white debra williamson taught for less than one year but soon earned her master's degree sharon taxman had taught for three years but never earned her masters in nineteen eighty nine the piscataway school board decided to eliminate one of its business teaching positions since williams and jackson were hired on the same day and considered equally qualified the board made its decision based on the need for diversity among business teachers the black teacher ms williams was kept on a white teacher ms taxman was laid off paxton filed a complaint with the equal employment opportunity commission she was retired in nineteen ninety two but has continued to sink back pay the supreme court agreed to hear the case and scheduled arguments for january we get more on the ramifications from today's surprise settlement from

clint bolick president of the institute for justice and huge prize president of the national urban league which belongs to the umbrella group that's helping to pay today's settlement gentlemen welcome both surprise why did your group want this case settled concern was that the case was not the strongest and it could be brought in order to preserve and defend affirmative action on in a situation like this where there's basically a contest between two individuals in this one position and the determination is based essentially on race that is a very tough case to bring an if this issue has rejoined the supreme court should be based on the strongest possible case for affirmative action and this was not it mr price what was the what would've been what might have been the worst case scenario had this case gone to the supreme court and have the issue that session were as case scenario would that they would use a finding against this case as a basis for making a larger determination about the future of affirmative action are in situations similar to this very unique unfortunate case and that was a concern that there might be a broader ruling emanating from this case and if the court is to

consider the larger issue that should be in the strongest possible case before the clint bolick are you persuaded by that well i i admire him price for his honesty in his candor and saying they knew they had a loser in the supreme court where he won i think that you and i i think would differ is that i think he's going to need an awful lot of cash because there are a lot of other cases in the supreme court has made clear repeatedly over the last decade that racial classifications are inherently a suspect and will be upheld only under the rarest of circumstances so i i don't think there is a strong case for the regime of racial preferences that we have today mr price based on that based on your reading of where the supreme court is heading out what was a fairly clear to you and other members of your other group that that this was the this was really not a propitious case is that that is a sense i'm talking with a civil rights bar that a narrow situation like this involving one slot in a layoff situation was

not the right kind of case an order that such a large principle and that there are situations in a vastly stronger where there are large pools a very qualified applicants of many opportunities and many slots available and race as is in the buckley case which is now the law of the land can be among the factors used by those who are making the decisions and that we still think that there is a compelling state interest justification for allowing our ethnicity to be used under those circumstances and that is the kind of case that we would like to bring before the court because that is the current law of the land it's both earlier today your group issued a press release saying that this reflected the full panic among the proponents of affirmative action this is unprecedented i can never remember a party trying to get a case to the supreme court which was the school board in this case and then having outside groups so worried that they were going to lose this case that they would ante up in this case four hundred and thirty three top four hundred and thirty three thousand five hundred

dollars to basically buy off the plaintiff in this case to avoid a case i think that because so this indicates in a well placed panic among the establishment so rights groups because they know the writing is very clear on all on the wall the american people in the supreme court have really had enough of racial classifications state and it was the price now passed a package concerned about an individual case and the desire to put the strongest case for but also add that they are so outside groups about the race all the funds of the settlement is indeed jon finalized on these be on the school board itself what they believe is involved as well and so i mean there's always the issue of what is the best case to bring forth and i'm sure that the bullet would not want to bring a case that in his judgment was not strong on his side and that is the opposition here it is a it is fairly unusual but not that the other outside group would raise this much money on that was that that had a lot of soul searching as far as that kind of participation i don't think it did reveal soul searching all we have a

vested interest in this body of law and in preserving affirmative action in preserving inclusion on the circumstances that the court will support and we wanted to present that kind of circumstance of the core feels that it was a rule and that was not the case in this instance mr bolick is your group and others who oppose affirmative action disappointed that this is what we would've loved to sing the court take his case to come up and fight will simply get out they do do that no i really i think the even though the court repeatedly rules that racial preferences are unconstitutional they're not disappearing they're really right now is eight is a program of massive resistance in california where the state has how wide racial preferences jesse jackson has just come back from the air after urging california state officials to defy the law i think we're saying of replay of what happened in the nineteen fifties and so i think where where he had a source rolling brown versus board of education and the public officials simply

refused employment that so that's why i'd really like to see the court once again say listen non discrimination is the law of the land and we want to see public officials and force that with all deliberate speed not the current law of the land of the rulings of the supreme court is that race can be among the considerations use in the allocation of opportunity under the right circumstances that is the ruling of boxy which the supreme court has not overruled which we don't believe it will rule and we want to be sure that there is the right kind of case before them in order to preserve that precedent that is the law of the land <unk> the law in california but it's not the law of the land price it was manageable its assertion that there that the tide is basically a basically against it well there are there are trends which are worrisome i think there's also a need to examine some of the tools and affirmative action in some of these cases like the piscataway case a very tough cases where there's a one slot into people i do think that the facts in other situations in higher education are very different wary of large pools of qualified applicants

where institutions want to be inclusive you know we are headed into a world where the population of this country is going to be one half minority one half british and we've gotten managed opportunities in our society so that everyone is included and we can't believe inclusion the chance and that is what the battle over affirmative action is all about are we as a society as we head into this new world going to remain committed to including everyone or we don't allow inclusion to chance and revert to the dais i when i plotted how much for example when they're only a thimble full of minorities on campus i don't think that's sustainable away for this aside and operate the civil rights groups many of them are are fighting the bowels of the nineteen sixties in the nineteen nineties the fact is that the problems are different today racism remains a problem but when you say minorities disappearing from the university of california and the reason is not because california's trying to keep minorities on in the school is because of the appalling state

of education in our k through twelve system i applaud fuel prices group which almost alone on long the established civil rights groups is focusing on issues like that but would like to see is an opportunity where the outbreak the civil rights group say listen we're going to give a break to these racial classifications oregon a focus on people based on their disadvantage when that happens we're going to be a will rebuild the civil rights consensus in this country but not until then we agree completely that the quality of education as to improve and that all young people are going to take advantage of opportunities that big surly qualified my concern is that goldman is fighting for the discretion that existed in the nineteen fifties which is to say that if it turns out that there are no minorities on this campus are in this workforce that's ok as well elizabeth that that's not okay as we head toward the future and we've got to manage opportunities so that those were qualified important functions of background are in the pool and have a chance to display that is what this

basic that was about or we believe it's a chance our winner and every effort to be inclusive among those who are qualified in nineteen ninety seven you were qualified minority is going make it and i'm going to make it into the universities are gonna make an on the job front the anti discrimination laws exist for those instances where discrimination occurs but what this regime of racial preferences has done is to make us think that we're solving the underlying education on economic problems when in fact they are actually growing worse and i hope that what's happening in california is a wakeup call so that we can get out of the racial classification business and into the business of improving the equality in the skills of people who have been left behind in our society white or black <unk> price of the supreme court so inclined to limit affirmative action is it just a matter of time perhaps other other cases in the pipeline which will raise similar issues they may but that may be pieces that bring the

larger issues more clearly to the court and present the strongest case possible that was a concern about this case we don't know which way the supreme court is inclined and has ruled in a limited number of circumstances but the buckley case which allows race to be among the factors remains the law of the land and we believe that there's a very powerful reason for that to continue under the right services mr bolter you weren't any case yes there are many other cases in the pipeline the university of washington the university of michigan both have admissions preferences that are under attack ironically the supreme court's decision in the outer and decision in nineteen ninety five which struck down federal set aside programs is still in litigation quite an illustration which continues to marginalize itself on these issues at stake getting very hard left position on our racial preference issues he's continuing to litigate their case two years later that one is working its way back up to the united states supreme court as well the supreme court could have many opportunities there

are no good cases from fuel prices perspective quite frankly because they all involve discrimination by government mr price jim when i applied to college in nineteen fifty nine and went off to school there are only a handful of minorities on that campus even though there are many many many times that many of the qualified it was the case because the institutions were deeply committed to being inclusive to you can still end up with lots of qualified fully qualified minorities in the pool not chosen if we're not conscious about efforts to be inclusive and be back where we were in the nineteen forties and fifties isle but in a world that is moving toward the twenty first century there will be increasingly diverse that is what this fundamental debate is about and that is why the mechanisms of affirmative action properly manners and the right circumstances are critically important to maintain is priceless both thank you both stoic along the

newshour tonight asia's economic troubles waging shows news conference and shields and you go the annual asia pacific economic cooperation meeting known as apec begins in vancouver this weekend president clinton and other world leaders will have no choice but to consider the growing financial crisis in asia ian williams of independent television news reports from hong kong with this background so beatles began in the summit in thailand with a battering for the local currency is part of a stock market collapse with exports for their public finances in a mess the government went cap in hand to the imf for a seventeen billion dollars bailout for many this was the result of years of corruption and mismanagement more than half thailand's finance houses was suspended as reckless lending left them with bad jets amounting to billions of dollars much of that was to property companies and building sites across

bangkok was sued at a standstill the economic collapse triggered a political crisis and public displays of affection from loyalists weren't enough to save the prime minister who was forced to resign as chief of the authorities resorted to a desperate advertising campaign to your back foreign investors telling them the economic wrote the beanstalk far from it as thailand's economy reeled the storm moved to neighboring malaysia buffeting that country's markets ages but major foreign minister was quick at this moment and for the faithful a little too far and speculate fifth president abc rather than have that undermine the economies of all the us and countries by de stabilizing that since our economy fundamentals i don't get anywhere near the two

billion dollars and destroy all that all the progress that we have made as the crisis worsened nation leaders claim to millions had been lifted out of poverty by the success of the tiger economies suggested this without risk thanks to the speculators well economists so much later is an accident waiting to happen regarding any currency linked to the strong us dollar as overvalued and vulnerable the contagion spread jolting singapore though not as severely it hit the markets in the philippines before reaching indonesia which was already reeling from the region's worst ever environmental disaster plus since august forest fires burning out of control have blanketed much of interview here in thinks more than the market turmoil piled on the agony the

government quickly turned to the imf which broker the thirty three billion dollar bailouts one condition was at the health of the economy be given priority over the business interests of president suharto his family among several insolvent banks forced to close with me and by family members at national co op project run by the president's son tommy which has received generous tax breaks is now under threat in october the economic storm reached hong kong fb let's come to market officials have been confident aloof almost believed they were immune from the crisis of the former british colony of its economic links to china could hold the line on the hong kong

stock exchange lost forty percent of its value off the interest rates were hiked to defend the hong kong dollar currency is paid to the value of the us dollar and it now we had to speculate as to be undervalued the market crash shook congolese army of small investors bombs but so far the dollar peg tests avoid quote great cost and an economy heavily dependent on property looks quite so solid further north the economies of japan and korea while slowing had escaped the worst of the turmoil until this week an imf bailout for korea will need twenty billion dollars claims the finance minister though analysts believe five times that amount the

largest in the history of the imf may be needed to head off an economic collapse the korean currency has plummeted and the stock market has collapsed a series of big companies have gone bust and banks are in trouble saddled with billions of dollars of bad debt tomorrow the president will address the nation telling them were painful adjustment lies ahead the korean economy is the world's eleventh largest and the problems here are sending further shoppers around the pacific rim and the old margaret warner picks up on the korean story south korea is the most developed country in the world ever to seek an imf bailout here to tell us more about it is robert hormats vice chairman of goldman sachs international how is south korea one of the most developed countries in the world in asia or the world get into this fix well what happened as a lot of big rape companies

for a lot of money on some of them now have gone bankrupt which means that the banks in korea are left holding a lot of the assets on their books that they're never going to be able to collect on when foreign creditors saw the situation they are held back on new loans the currency decline which means that people in korea who borrowed in dollars or five at what's more difficult to repay the loans that they had taken out to international banks and its cascaded job from then on bankruptcy as we get from big debt problems weak banks and the foreign creditors becoming more more reluctant to lend money to korea would you say that that the reasons have more to do with the financial crisis kind of rolling across asia or does the business sector there have a lot of internal problems mismanagement cronyism someone at some of the others do well it's really a bit of both they certainly have internal

structural problems a lot of the loans made by the banks to the bakery and companies are were used to build the excess of capacity and didn't return very much to the companies and the banks became or more at risk but the crisis itself was triggered by the concerns about the currency instability and the rest of east asia the reason being that other currencies depreciate the korean wong what less and less competitive korean exports lot less less competitive and therefore the markets began to anticipate that korea two would have to devalue its currency and therefore lending dried up and people have closed the korea began to walk to pull back those loans and the second sector and government officials went to quite extraordinary lengths to try to avoid going to the imf like tell us about that one is a matter of pride korea actually is an economy that has gone on very large number of things right now there are some very good companies and korea a country had managed to a reduce

in some cases eliminated certain years its budget deficit exports actually have been increasing in korea it's about a lot of things right now is a lot of pride in korea they didn't want to have the i mean if they thought they could resolve the problems on their own or perhaps get some bilateral assistance from japan or the us but now they've concluded correctly in my judgment that they have to go to the imf to get a program to help them address that problem and some extra resources as well i know what is it named for a country to actually go into these negotiations at the imf well what price today does this country usually have to pay to get them well you're quite right there are conditions to getting money from the imf tradition of the imf will to countries and tries to figure out ways by which the countries can stabilize the situation in some cases it's a woman in the budget deficit and korea that's not really the issue i think the imf in the case of korea is going to want a number of the

financial institutions to be restructured summer will probably have to go out of business some of the bad loans will have to be taken off the books of the banks for all the book's of song government institution which the koreans are in the process of doing our greater degree of transparency so that foreign investors will be ever know what theo reserves the central bank or we'll look at the books of banks and determine whether their credit worthy are not a look at the books of corporations to the german whether their credit worthy and whether they're for the banks that have lent the money or the sell positions of a lot of internal structure were issues that will be addressed when the imf and the greens begin their negotiations and explained simply to answer briefly tell us what happened in ion batteries money is that balance well the imf gets its money from a number of countries the united states britain japan germany a lot of countries are contributing money to the imf and countries all all have quotas korea has a quarter of about a billion will go over a billion dollars and they'll be able to draw on that quota but also

beyond withdraw more than i put in mexico got seven times its quota so grey will be a will borrow maybe ten fifteen billion dollars from the imam maybe a little bit more we'll also probably need bilateral money from japan and the us and other countries to demonstrate confidence to the markets that sufficient money is available if they undertake the restructuring programs the bhagavad now what is the likely impact now that the crisis has reached south korea on the rest of asia and on the us end the rest the world's economies will that's a very important question if the korean want to be stabilized and doesn't appreciate it will help to stabilize the situation in asia the danger is that if an agreement is not reached and if the wind appreciates further that will make korea more competitive and other countries in asia may feel that they have to appreciate their currencies or the market itself will have to appreciate those currencies so that they'll be able to keep up with korea and the us are competitive devaluation process thats underway

for the us the stakes are quite high because korea is an important market we export more korea than we do to indonesia thailand and malaysia combined with word about twenty two billion dollars to korea last year and if korea deteriorates a lot like japan which is a big market for american products so it's a situation in east asia continues to deteriorate growth slows currency's value then it will reduce american exports and forced these countries to export more to the us which will widen our trade imbalance and as the tense hour political military situation the korean peninsula does that give the rest the world i think a greater stake and sing the salt how does it complicate it certainly gives the world a great stake in helping korea first of all helping korea to improve its own situation through the sort of restructuring all financial institutions and bad loans and such it also means that when korea does this the world really has a major reason for helping to support the green we fought a war to defend the koreans which is very poor and we also now don't wanna send a signal to north korea

on that were not supporting the south we have to look very resolute and supporting the south to avoid sending a signal to north korea that somehow less united states is not behind the south koreans have the very important geopolitical signal invasion and isis has to demonstrate that it's still wants the played a strong leadership role in asia and support from the imf and support from united states to demonstrate that the world is supporting the south koreans in this crisis and briefly before we got president clinton and other pacific rim leaders are of course needed for this apec summit the beginning of the week what if anything can a packed do about this hole asian financial crisis well there was an agreement reached in manila to try to enhance cooperation among the asian countries and the united states and others to give them economic support and to encourage reforms in countries like korea and other countries in the region that are be stabilized then states also to demonstrate that it really wants to continue to be a leader and that it will provide if the koreans agree with the imf a

substantial amount of money and they were constructive force rather the country and retreat from our leadership role in asia to be with you one of the country's first hit in the asian economic crisis was the philippines yesterday was with aren't worth talked with president fidel ramos in san francisco mr president thank you very much for being with us here how are people in the philippines in thailand and malaysia how are they viewing the problem are they blaming anybody for well i can only really speak of the philippines but the industry to ensure people are really concerned but they're not overly worried because there has to be able to afford what they ended up on a daily basis our productivity point the notion that the export of the philippines during the first ten months of nineteen ninety seven including this ready for much of your life i

have grown up the twenty five percent as compared to the performance in lebanon six nevertheless the currency crisis and the dangers that could lie ahead with everything happening in korea now is potentially even at the philippines so far is escaping the worst of it this potentially very great and as you well know and some of the newspapers in the region are reporting that some people are blaming the united states blaming money managers what you hear in the philippines the urban the finger pointing has no to taking place that if a bomb it is the once asked the national fish us but then you know it this election season and the philippines now if this if throughout various scientists they said there's election fever in the philippines on the other hand the economy's ready video important to us and their dad doing my presidency and made sure that they are since they run in do ninety nine people started putting in the city the deformed it'll open up to liberalize tour that even a private eyes and that

appears to be among the recommended prescriptions that came out of the show video the deputy soon many lives just three days ago so do you think that is going to affect other southeast asia nations to that they will also do you regulate open up have banking laws that everybody can come see anne and reveal more about how banks are doing to think that's the end result here i think it's that important that the bebop institution should india investment houses and on the other financial institutions or whatever it might be put on tape stable among the spot in nba victim of bishops not to spare you mean i'm seeing a scene that and the latest figures are now that we have that in the philippines biggest years ago we created an entirely new show and about she's ten and this is monday that the constitution and so maybe their way with

the haqqani or the behest long have insurance that just a big part in our own banking system we haven't heard about failure during my time as i mentioned that but more importantly our bunk lending policies i do have a delayed that by the news and footage that's the launch for property development in the philippines have been kept up eleven of about fifteen to sixteen percent unlike in some countries for that the senate the snide asides ninety percent that's part of what created that bubble that made them and gresham fortunately know i was sent about us put them atop of twenty percent on the private lending but we haven't given this it even without the storm or you're looking at the situation generally can you you've been so much involved in all the changes that have happened a nation the past ten years do you have a feeling i mean you must have you know when something really historical was

happening you had the feeling that this is a really historic moment what you're going through right now that the economy's in with korea and perhaps even their heinous nature this issue to be a defining moment in the year his trio of asia pacific but then they're confident that the asia pacific region or that but tell me why it's a defining moment explain give me a sense from all that you've seen whiteside signing on to big rush we borrowed a betting though and there into the new century the new millennium with a betty davis condition that big push for the big league and then the air for more it happens that because show for a shoe polish mistakes catching up the sociability you know for me and

still runs for big fines from here at least the new technologies sure and that's probably something that was not going to ship it the dvd during the morning fog the smile watch and that she let them in the standings the truth in that was shivering that iran almost instant they know sure i heard it the age that does for monday's dresses fast assertiveness protesting putin of progress they do think they may have to be some kind of limits on money managers ability to shift their fines that fast the yearling at a bait and the word tittle initiation are looking up for financial services and the recent sharp unseen would come under and maybe have some arguments must be about that show the least know why good happening

how important is the apec meeting coming up in vancouver its report that it could be a the most important vote on the beach one most important in its own way in the case of the eleven manila last year the tour certainly help to make him up for the future reported mark barr ninety six night why is this one song for him first because of these financial crises secondly because we remember the viewing the one thousand zero eight individual action plans and they go in manila and see what does happen during the past year i really knew that the picture about revealing year undertaking vi the nation show every year for post on the libyan goes to the most competent and efficiently they'd have to analyze ourselves and in continuous

is by now an update on waging giang the chinese dissident released last weekend away as bynum of troy hospital since he reached the united states on sunday today he made his first public appearance at a news conference in new york city sponsored by three human rights groups the pain thank the people and governments around the world that have made enormous efforts to press the chinese government for the release of political prisoners right now there are several thousand

political prisoners still suffering and chinese communist party jails for exercising their freedom of speech our conscience as human beings will not allow us to forget that and i have been for a single moment here in this magnificent library today i would like to enjoy my sacred right of free speech and see what can be done so that more people and eventually all of humanity and also enjoy this sacred right my friends i will not take your questions mr way how do you plan to work for democracy from exile in this country and do you have any plans to go back to china we play i certainly i plan to go back in fact i'd never intended to leave it was only because the chinese authorities told me that if i wanted to apply for medical treatment and medical amnesty from prison i could only receive that medical treatment overseas and cannot receive a judge and

continuously that you want to go back to china but the justice minister of china show young was just here and said that if your health improves and you're willing to go back to china you'll have to finish out your term was to go back to china under almost any circumstance but nobody would like to go back there to go to jail i don't want a lot of them and why the big question is what is the most important thing you've learned in your eighteen years in prison but that depends what the become what they got back on the main thing i learned many things but the most important one is that for human being there's no difficulty that cannot be overcome the us have to rely on yourself and you can overcome any people <unk> away or do you want to be president of china do you think you might never be president of china web video and teach even humble cottage industry and basically not interested in this issue recently while she joined other democracy activist

publish an article saying that he doesn't agree with portraying awaiting shine as the grandfather of the chinese democracy movement what has your attitude on this you should've known he couldn't i'm not too clear about this article of washington but i feel that people cite phrase of the methods makes me feel ashamed or embarrassed because i had not done enough for a chinese democracy will go you've been saying since your arrest in nineteen seventy nine that you love china right now how do you feel about china watch you know that i was on i will love my father land forever whether i'm there or you away from there it went to a point you have to stay overseas for a long time and fight for democracy forum overseas what do you think that your prospect and fighting for democracy

under those conditions what i will participate in all sorts of democracy activities as for the future of the future prospects of the chinese democracy movement has excellent you should not pay attention to the media's low tide because after a low tide there is also high tide college when we don't they ask you an apology i'm very tired of fuel we hope we can continue to talk afterward another type of effect boies said he will write a book and he's also considering fellowship offers in california and new york the filing tonight some political analysis by syndicated columnist mark shields wall street journal columnist politico marked iraqi crisis the inspectors are back and you think the president can handle the slang the last three weeks well again i think get

enough water and vision isn't going on it strikes me in washington in the country at large george bush forged remarkable coalition in nineteen ninety nineteen ninety one he was able to do it because the saddam hussein invaded kuwait but he also was very skillful ago and put together a coalition including arab states and because he held it together we had a far greater chance for peace in the middle east and this is no question the dead the george bush did the right thing by not going into the wreck in nineteen eighty one in going after saddam hussein was not a political issue would fall apart and i just i think that somehow this past couple weeks and some commando columnist been talking about let's get cough what's the matter why don't we go when they're leveling decimate him whatever else it was never a possibility then was never a possibility now i think the coalition obviously is a lot more fragile now and i was a lot more difficult to a get concerted action with the french and the russians do in her own deal with i thought bill

clinton firfer thought was a domestic president was elected i handled it is he can say that he got saddam center looks like any way to allow the inspectors back yet but i don't think he can claim which is what the white house is trying to claim that saddam hussein has not stronger coming out of this has not had some advantages coming out of saddam had some weeks to hide the one everyone's to hide he's got a coalition now which is more fragile than it was before i have no question marks right he inherited from president bush the fact that saddam hussein was his visit is there and then that was a problem with the states to create them president bush made but since that saddam hussein has a weak coalition now is a big new ally and that russia with the foreigners to promote calls asserting himself and now saying that they are going to go into the security council are you on saddam

hussein's behalf to lift the sanctions probably within a matter of months so if the president can say plausibly he avoided war and that the country will breathe a sigh really question is did he get a short term solution here but maybe say problems for a bigger problem later ones about mergers with the sanctions lifted with no oil revenue problem for later his presidency or for a president or somebody else or you think senators and he didn't back off even back then well he backed down the narrow question of sanctions but did he get other advantages of this is going to get some oil money for example it is he's got a new international legitimacy with his cause of lifting sanctions being made on his behalf now former members of the mood of the coalition have a situation where it has to be saddam hussein was isolated against the world now within the security council of the united states is increasingly isolated and saddam hussein as allies

i don't wanna leave the impression because it's not my intention that george bush did not do the right thing and it did exactly the right thing there was no way we can win the baghdad there was no democratic alternative to saddam hussein there was no way we were going to occupy baghdad we'd united states of america and hold elections and our guys did when i was at and you want to look at northern ireland i could have one thousandth degree and and and look at what was then i and there's no question that none of the arab countries would cross directs know that the collision would come in under the various sports would have to appease the middle east are a direct consequence of what george bush put together and making it one he put together a coalition that recognize israel and then i think we're paying dearly right now for the assassination of time yesterday there's no question about it we have been hurt their chances a piece of that hurt and i do not i do i don't know what is in secret deals made but that you can't

quite frankly not the hold a coalition together on a perpetual bases without an act of aggression and what about paul's point about that saddam hussein came out of the stronger than anyone in this immediate crisis plus three when us troops entered saddam hussein it's trying to whisper or at home writing off the ionosphere struggle mightily plebiscite a very important and i interact i his his pockets or his leadership was never depend upon popularity of a popular support is no question that day there was resistance and strong resistance from some of our former coalition partners they did was he forced to sew an insurgency as the stronger but a lack of a domestic issue united states paul was it was was it worth we don't have to improve reading for about the way it looks like it's turning out was it worth going to war over whatsoever so in the united states go to war with with their airport announcement and kicking out the inspector general i believe it would have had

the president on it so i think he would add an enormous amount of support within his country from people of both parties i think that this is going on on the road there were no ideal options here is it forces never something you want to do it's never something you do lightly but this is a man who was willing to create an ecological catastrophe into adequate this is a man who uses gas so and then poisonous venom on his own people this is a man who's shown that he's willing to assassinate anyone and this is not somebody i would want plotting revenge against a country or humiliated him in power with a new allies with new commercial business partners in russia and in france and so it seems to me that turkey the country knows this and then went back to present during that mark is what kind of support the president would've had had the same escalated and we had to actually go in there and his mom in and other things can all all was a popular for the first thirty days and if

it isn't over in thirty days and the casualties are minimal at one thing that i get returning to in an audience and they're not going to do a testimony of the bush presidential library and he joined bush did win support from congress of the other party i had there was no question because the republican leadership now on capitol hill was to prove they're a tougher so that was the prom he did win support from inundation and there was a sustained public debate in this country was very closely divided i happen to oppose interstate cedric militarily in iraq on this broadcast of the time and it i really do think the debt that debate was awfully important for me popular support for what's out that i don't think in a state where the great and certainly not good at any level can better without of ninety nine when we were happening in american troops ok let's go to another subject corcoran institutions your own character unintelligible run for reelection as president on grounds are no illegal funny and serious matter for labor

series nightfall a really wasn't on the way back i mean there was no question about it that there seemed to be a new energy a new dynamism our young people coming in his organizes i the u p s but a new face on labor day now you always want to have your people if you're any movement you won't have to be people in the public likes the public likes ubs drivers they are they sure did or their packages that very helpful very competent and that it's a little bit you can certainly show their muscle on capitol hill everything at it over deserve muscled credit for the fact that i think that still it what good this is a real kick in the teach in labor is now on the defensive make no mistake about it and that republicans have a big advantage it's it's it's on the cusp of the greatest political victory since the wagner act maybe the fast track the fee which they managed over a democratic president now this newly remember there was a there was a takeover within the labor movement and insurgency by john sweeney richard trumka gerald mcentee and ontario in metairie with

more movement of the posters have had been in partisan terms of an independently they sometimes endorsed republican sometimes democrat took them about the writing of the orbit of the new political activism of the sweeney afl cio which tend to support democrats did in ninety six almost exclusively made them a real engine for the democratic party now we have to have carried with carry out the teachers may move back into more dependable but the real problem and i think this is an ultimate political risk is that the investigation now of what happened in the teamsters' election me reach into the afl cio and then senior officers of the afl cia who have been named in the court documents and in the the overseers documents as somebody who had their test there's testimony there that they may have participated and how they deny it but that is a real political risk if in fact they are fire somehow brought in what progress are sprawled definition of independence

of the va for mind that the republicans have been the leading republican union and the principal republican present when it to the cabinet the beginning and there were paraded animated reagan that they've lived in the bush for it and then mix it hi all and most of it on a way the most of their leadership had gone away and that's exactly what we're going to thank you both very much for you next week right again the major stories this friday united nations arms inspectors including americans returned to re rack north korea agreed before way peace talks next month in geneva a new jersey affirmative action case was settled before going to the us supreme court and president clinton signed the fda reform bill into law all we'll see you online and again here monday evening have a nice weekend i'm jim lehrer thank you and goodnight human part by

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