ABC NEWS SPECIAL: A NATIONAL TOWN MEETING {SOVIET PRESIDENT MIKHAIL GORBACHEV AND RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN} (TV)
Summary
A special news program, anchored by Peter Jennings in New York. The program features a live interview via satellite with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Russian President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow, who respond to questions posed by Jennings and by audience members from across the United States. The "town meeting" airs following a meeting of the Soviet Congress to decide the future of the Soviet Union. (The telecast will also be shown in the Soviet Union.) As the program begins, Jennings provides an overview of Soviet history, from the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to Gorbachev's attempts at perestroika. The segment includes archival footage of the 1917 revolution, speeches by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy, and a cartoon that mocks the coup leaders who recently attempted to overthrow Gorbachev. Mort Dean reports on the history of the political relationship between Gorbachev and Yeltsin, with comments by experts Helmut Sonnenfeldt of the Brookings Institution and Dr. Jeremy R. Azrael, senior analyst for Rand, as well as news footage of Yeltsin on Soviet TV in February disassociating himself from Gorbachev. Topics covered include the similar goals of the two men towards change in Russia; a profile of their careers in the Communist Party; Yeltsin's rise to power as Gorbachev's popularity declines; the Russian Army; and long lines for high-priced goods for the Soviets. Jennings questions ABC's Moscow Bureau Chief Jim Laurie about events in the Soviet Union in transition, including the restructuring that is occurring within Soviet government; speculation over events at the Congress for Peoples' Deputies; the responsibilities of the newly created State Council; and reasons that Gorbachev might be having trouble leading other government officials. Once the presidents arrive at the Kremlin, the question-and-answer session begins, with questions posed by Jennings and such audience members as Oleg Myshkin of Moscow, who defected in 1988; Father John Fields of the Ukranian Church; and Pres. Dean Kleckner of the American Farm Bureau. Topics discussed include the leaders' working relationship; whether military weapons will be withdrawn from Cuba as other types of aid continue; the fate of KGB intelligence files; whether defectors can expect a safe return to the Soviet Union; current control over Soviet nuclear weapons; trade relations between U.S. farms and the Soviets, who need the food that the U.S. can provide; and whether each Russian republic will become autonomous or whether a centralized government will remain in control. Each man is asked to state his personal religious beliefs, and Gorbachev answers specific questions about whether he believes Yeltsin is exploiting him. As this portion of the program concludes, Hans Ephrainson, the chairman of Victims Families Committee of the Korean Airlines tragedy of 1983, asks a question.
Further questions are posed by Russian graduate student Luba Ivanova; actor Ben Stein; Charles Battle of the Atlanta Olympic Committee; high school student Len Collins; David Barram of Apple Computers; and Charles Mullen of the Houston Inventors Association. Topics discussed include the following: whether anti-Semitism will continue in the new Soviet Union; whether discrimination toward Soviet women in the work force will decline; whether any country should continue to live under communism; whether the Soviet citizens will compete in future Olympics as one team or as many teams representing the various republics; whether a new flag will represent the new Russia; guarantees that the Soviet government will not confiscate property that U.S. businesses acquire; the Western leader that the two statesmen most admire; their plans to educate the Soviet people to use current business technology tools in order to compete in a global economy; the future for any political prisoners left in Russia; plans to aid children harmed in the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident; and the prospect of a Soviet free-market economy. Gorbachev is asked to comment on the health of his wife, Raisa; on the reasons he allowed the leaders of the recent coup attempt to work for him in the first place; and on his plans to improve his image with the Soviets. Yeltsin is asked to comment on whether the bodies Korean Airline crash victims will be returned to the U.S. and whether aid will be offered to family members. After the presidents leave, Jennings interviews media personality Vladimir Pozner of Gosteleradio in Moscow about several topics, including his insights into recent events in Russia; whether the two leaders were more candid than they might have been with a Russian audience; and the current state of their relationship. As the program concludes, Jennings asks for audience reactions to the meeting, which includes insights from Soviet scholar Prof. Condolezza Rice of Stanford University. Several final questions concern the sale of the Russian nuclear arsenal to the U.S.; whether the central Russian government will interfere in ethnic skirmishes in other republics; and the extent to which central authority will remain intact. Includes commercials.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by a grant from the Times Mirror Foundation.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: September 2, 1991 11:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:58:10
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:23101
- GENRE: Public affairs/documentaries; Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Attempted coup, 1991; Autonomous soviet socialist republics; Korean Air Lines Incident, 1983; Nuclear weapons; Post-communism; Soviet Union - History - 1917-1921; Spacebridges; U S - Foreign relations - U S S R; U S - Officials - Talk/Interviews; U S S R - Officials - Talk/Interviews
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1991
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - AT&T long-distance service
- TV - Commercials - Acura Legend automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Aquafresh toothpaste
- TV - Commercials - Lenscrafters
- TV - Commercials - Mazda automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Meineke mufflers
- TV - Commercials - Publisher's Clearing House
- TV - Commercials - Sears Brand Central
- TV - Commercials - Shearson Lehman Brothers
- TV - Commercials - Stouffer's frozen foods
- TV - Commercials - Subaru automobiles
- TV - Promos - "20/20"
- TV - Promos - "FBI: Untold Stories"
- TV - Promos - "Growing Pains"
- TV - Promos - "Perfect Strangers"
- TV - Promos - ABC's Monday Night Football
- TV - Promos - ABC Saturday morning programs
- TV – Commercials – Advil pain medicine
- TV – Commercials – Lennox air conditioning and heating
- TV – Commercials – NYNEX
- TV – PSAs – AIDS Prevention by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
- TV – PSAs – United Negro College Fund by the Ad Council
- TV – Promos – “Family Matters”
CREDITS
- Richard Kaplan … Executive Producer
- David Bohrman … Senior Producer
- John Armstrong … Senior Producer
- Justin Friedland … Senior Producer
- Joanne Breen … Producer
- Juju Chang … Producer
- Grier Ballantine … Producer
- Carla Delandri … Producer
- Diane Terrell … Producer
- Brett Holey … Special Segment Producer
- Marie Maclean … Editorial Producer
- Roger Goodman … Director
- Jack Gallivan … Director, In Moscow
- Alison Loop … Researcher
- Peter Jennings … Host
- Jim Laurie … Reporter
- Mort Dean … Reporter, Voice-over
- Boris Yeltsin … Guest
- Mikhail Gorbachev … Guest
- Vladimir Pozner … Guest
- Condoleezza Rice … Guest
- Robin Leach … Talent
- Jeremy R. Azrael
- David Barram
- Charles Battle
- Winston Churchill
- Len Collins
- Hans Ephrainson
- John Fields
- Luba Ivanova
- John F. Kennedy
- Dean Kleckner
- Charles Mullen
- Oleg Myshkin
- Helmut Sonnenfeldt
- Ben Stein
- For WLS-TV/Chicago:
- Larry Sales … Executive Producer
- Howie Shapiro … Director
- Tom Dolan … Production (Misc.), News Director
- For KGO-TV/San Francisco:
- Jill Coughlan … Producer
- Ken Czys … Director
- Milt Weiss … Production (Misc.), News Director
- For WSB-TV/Atlanta:
- Carl Ward … Producer
- Susan Hooper … Associate Producer
- Jon Moor … Associate Producer
- Bob Monti … Director
- Dick Moore … Production (Misc.), News Director
- For WXYZ-TV/Detroit:
- Bill Kubota … Producer
- Susan Sawyer-Smith … Director
- Bob Rowe … Production (Misc.), News Director
- Bob Giles … Production (Misc.), Director of News Operation
- For WPLG-TV/Miami:
- Bill Bouyer … Producer
- Richard Rothaus … Director
- Rob Reichblum … Production (Misc.), News Director
- For KTRK-TV/Houston:
- Faith D'Aluisio … Producer
- Fred Jones … Director
- Tom Doerr … Production (Misc.), News Director
- For WPVI-TV/Philadelphia:
- Tim Beacham … Producer
- Terry Belford … Director
- For Soviet State Committee for TV and Radio Broadcasting:
- Galina Thomchik … Producer
- Yelena Schmaltz … Director