MACNEIL/LEHRER NEWSHOUR, THE {COMMUNIST PARTY; IRAQ'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of nightly news analysis programs. Hosted by Robert MacNeil with Judy Woodruff, this program covers the day's news and focuses on the uncertain future of the Communist Party. A segment entitled "The Party's Over?" examines the political shifts within the Soviet Union's communist government. The program includes a report from Moscow-based correspondent Charles Krause, who interviews hard-line communist Viktor Alksnis. Sharply critical of Mikhail Gorbachev's leadership of the country, Alksnis addresses the following issues: Gorbachev's reforms as the catalyst for anarchy and chaos; the possibility of a coup against Gorbachev initiated by the KGB and the army and carried out by the people; his belief that Gorbachev's negotiations with the republics to increase their autonomy is a political deception; Alksnis's advocacy of the ousting of both Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin; and his determination to remove Gorbachev from power through constitutional means. MacNeil joins a panel discussion with four Soviets who analyze and comment on Alksnis's remarks: Vitaly Korotich of Ogonyok magazine; Soviet affairs analyst Dimitri Simes; Russian Supreme Soviet member Yevgeniy Ambartsumov; and Melor Sturua, columnist for the Soviet newspaper Izvestia. The four men raise the following issues: the growing impotence of the Communist Party as a political power and predictions of its ultimate demise; the hard-line faction's threat to the stability of the Soviet Union and the possibility of either a constitutional coup or a military coup; the belief that Alksnis's comments on the state of the Soviet Union are extreme and distorted; the outcome of an impending meeting of the Central Committee; and speculations on the future of the Soviet government. Woodruff introduces a segment entitled "Iraq Fallout," which examines Iraq's nuclear program on the eve of a United Nations deadline that orders Iraq to reveal the extent of its nuclear capacity. Andrew Veich of Independent Television News reports on the development of atomic facilities and the production of nuclear uranium in Iraq; the segment includes pictures of the remains of an extensive nuclear complex near Baghdad that was capable of producing atomic weaponry. Also featured are interviews with three individuals who express concerns over Iraq's ability to produce nuclear weapons: Dr. Hans Blix, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Paul Leventhal of the Nuclear Control Institution; and the advisor to the ministry of defense, Dr. John Hasaard of Imperial College in London. In an essay segment entitled "Raising Mom," Anne Taylor Fleming reports on a teen parenting and child care program at the Business Industry School in Los Angeles. Coverage of other stories includes the following: Bush defends his nominee for the head of the CIA, Robert Gates, against accusations of his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair; the launching of the space shuttle Atlantis is delayed after the discovery of a computer problem in one of the main engines; Lawrence McGinty reports on British astronomers who have discovered the first planet outside the solar system; and the families of three American pilots missing in action in Vietnam claim that the men are still being held captive, with footage of Shelby Robertson Quast, daughter of an MIA, addressing a press conference, and Vietnam's U.N. Ambassador Trinh Xuan Lang rebuffing the claims. No commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: July 24, 1991 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:58
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:29186
- GENRE: News; Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Judy Woodruff); Soviet Union - Politics and governement - 1985-; Soviet Union - Attempted coup, 1991; Soviet Union - Administrative and political divisions; Nuclear weapons (International law); Teenage parents; Iran Contra Affair, 1985-1990; Outer space - Exploration; Prisoners of war
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1983-1995
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Robert MacNeil … Anchor
- Judy Woodruff … Anchor
- Charles Krause … Correspondent
- Andrew Veich … Correspondent
- Anne Taylor Fleming … Correspondent
- Lawrence McGinty … Correspondent
- Viktor Alksnis … Guest
- Vitaly Korotich … Guest
- Dimitri Simes … Guest
- Yevgeniy Ambartsumov … Guest
- Melor Sturua … Guest
- Hans Blix
- George Bush
- Robert Gates
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- John Hasaard
- Paul Leventhal
- Shelby Robertson Quast
- Trinh Xuan Lang
- Boris Yeltsin