MACNEIL/LEHRER NEWSHOUR, THE {GENEVA SUMMIT/ECONOMIC GROWTH REPORT} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of nightly news analysis programs. Hosted by Robert MacNeil with Jim Lehrer, this program focuses on the progress of the summit talks between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Reporting from Geneva, Lehrer reviews the day's progress; the segment includes footage of the two leaders in private sessions and with advisors. His report includes statements from White House spokesman Larry Speakes and Soviet spokesman Leonid Zamyatin. Next, Jeff Goldman reports on the leaders' wives, Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev, who attended the unveiling of a cornerstone at the new International Red Cross museum. Providing analysis of the day's events are David Gergen of U.S. News and World Report, and Malcolm Toon, former ambassador to Moscow. Topics discussed with Lehrer include the anticipated outcome of the final day of the summit; the possibility of future talks; speculations on the private conversations between Reagan and Gorbachev; and Gorbachev's talents and skills as a leader. In a summit-related story, Donald Regan had stated that most women would not be interested in or be able to understand the weightier matters being discussed at the talks; the comment drew a sharp rebuff from Rep. Pat Schroeder (D-Colo.) and responses from both Reagan and Gorbachev in Geneva. In a segment entitled "Consumer Resistance," MacNeil and Woodruff examine the conflicting responses to the new economic growth figures and the differing analysis of the data. Speaking with MacNeil, economist Robert Gough of the Boston-based consulting firm Data Resources prognosticates a rather gloomy future for the country's finances, citing consumer debt and rising unemployment as the chief causes. To offer a more optimistic perspective, Judy Woodruff introduces Robert Ortner of the U.S. Commerce Department, who predicts continued economic growth in a variety of areas including home building and defense spending. In the final segment, correspondent Elizabeth Brackett reports on Aaron Freeman, a political satirist from Chicago who focuses on current events. The profile includes extensive footage of the comedian's stand-up act as well as interviews with Freeman, his mother, and a variety of fans, including Mayor Harold Washington of Chicago. Other segments include MacNeil's report about a violent clash outside of Durban, South Africa, between the Zulus and the Pondos, during which eleven people died; and a report on the three anti-apartheid leaders who received the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights Award: Winnie Mandela, wife of Nelson Mandela, the jailed leader of the banned African National Congress; Beyers Naude, head of the South African Council of Churches; and Alan Boesak, president of the World Alliance of Reform Churches. Cataloging of this program was made possible by a grant from the Times Mirror Foundation.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: November 20, 1985 7:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:50
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:29265
- GENRE: News; Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Summit meetings - Switzerland; Cold War; U S - Foreign relations - U S S R; South Africa, Republic of - Civil rights; U S - Economic conditions - 1981-; Comedy
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1983-1995
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Lester M. Crystal … Executive Producer
- Linda Winslow … Deputy Executive Producer
- Dan Werner … Associate Executive Producer
- Gordon Earle … Producer
- Michael Mosettig … Producer
- Lewis Silverman … Managing Producer
- Patti Parson … Managing Producer
- Tony Marshall … Director
- David Deutsch … Director
- Robert MacNeil … Host
- Jim Lehrer … Host
- Judy Woodruff … Correspondent
- Jeff Scott Goldman … Correspondent
- David Lieberman … Correspondent
- Elizabeth Brackett … Correspondent
- Malcolm Toon … Guest
- David Gergen … Guest
- Robert Gough … Guest
- Robert Ortner … Guest
- Alan Boesak
- Aaron Freeman
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Raisa Gorbachev
- Robert F. Kennedy
- Nelson Mandela
- Winnie Mandela
- Beyers Naude
- Nancy Reagan
- Ronald Reagan
- Donald Regan
- Pat Schroeder
- Larry Speakes
- Harold Washington
- Leonid Zamyatin