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60 MINUTES {THE PRESIDENT, WHO POISONED MARYANN?, PAY ATTENTION!} (TV)

Summary

One in this series of news magazine programs. In the first segment, "The President," the entire "Sixty Minutes" team (minus Andy Rooney) sits in with President Bill Clinton for a question-and-answer session on Clinton's controversial decision to send American troops to Bosnia. Mike Wallace introduces the piece by telling viewers that over fifty percent of Americans polled by CNN disapprove of Clinton's decision; in this piece, Wallace says, Clinton will get the opportunity to explain his actions. First, Ed Bradley and Steve Kroft grill the president about whether he plans to keep troops in Bosnia for longer than a year. Clinton explains that he does not want the U.S. to become an occupying force in Bosnia, adding that he simply wishes to meet three major goals: to oversee the separation of military forces in Bosnia, to oversee the cease fire, and to maintain a generally secure environment while the country holds elections and begins rebuilding. Lesley Stahl then expresses her skepticism to Clinton about the Bosnians' capacity to uphold their end of any bargain; Clinton tells Stahl that he simply wants to provide an opportunity for peace. "If [the Bosnians] go back on the deal they agreed to," the president contends, "they've blown it." Morley Safer asks Clinton about the fact that Americans do not appear to be neutral in the situation; he points out that the U.S. has always favored the Muslims in Bosnia in the past. Clinton insists that in this situation sides are irrelevant. The president concludes the session by arguing that if he were to withhold troops from Bosnia now, war would resume, and troops would eventually go in anyway because of American obligations to NATO. In that situation, Clinton declares, far more Americans would be at risk. In the second segment, "Who Poisoned Maryann?," Kroft investigates the story of a young, pregnant scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, who was apparently deliberately and mysteriously poisoned with a dangerous radioactive isotope called Phosphorous 32. Kroft speaks with the victim and her husband, who both came from China to work at the National Institutes of Health to concentrate on the search for a cure for cancer. Kroft also speaks with the couple's lawyer, who states that the husband and wife suspect their laboratory supervisor. Kroft interviews the supervisor, John Weinstein, whom the reporter describes as a well-respected doctor in the field of cancer research. Weinstein vigorously denies the charges, and Kroft tells viewers that no pieces of evidence or witnesses implicate Weinstein in any way. In addition, Kroft points out, similar cases of Phosphorous 32 radiation poisoning have surfaced in laboratories of other major American scientific institutions, including M.I.T. and Yale University. Kroft then questions several other scientists about the possibility of an insane scientist who moves from lab to lab poisoning colleagues. In the third segment, "Pay Attention!," Stahl reports on the staggering growth in diagnosed cases of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or A.D.H.D., in elementary-school children. Stahl explains how the main drug associated with the disorder, Ritalin, works to "kick in the inhibitory system" in especially fidgety children. She then speaks with doctors who offer significantly differing views on the disorder; some believe that A.D.H.D. is misdiagnosed all the time while others view the problem as a serious epidemic. In the fourth segment, Andy Rooney discusses the preponderance of products on the marketplace that define themselves as "lemon fresh." Includes commercials and promos.

Cataloging of this program has been made possible by the Bell Atlantic Foundation, 2000.

Details

  • NETWORK: CBS
  • DATE: December 10, 1995 7:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:57:42
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:63346
  • GENRE: News magazine
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; Bosnia and Hercegovina; Poisoning
  • SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1968-
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV - Commercials - AT & T long-distance telephone service
    • TV - Commercials - Aptiva computer software
    • TV - Commercials - Chrysler automobiles
    • TV - Commercials - Compaq computers
    • TV - Commercials - FedEx shipping service
    • TV - Commercials - Ford automobiles
    • TV - Commercials - Hertz rent-a-car
    • TV - Commercials - Kellogg's cereals
    • TV - Commercials - Mercedes Benz automobiles
    • TV - Commercials - Norelco razors
    • TV - Commercials - Norelco tooth-care products
    • TV - Commercials - Raisin Bran cereal
    • TV - Commercials - Wausau insurance policies
    • TV - Promos - "Almost Perfect"
    • TV - Promos - "CBS Evening News"
    • TV - Promos - "Cybill"
    • TV - Promos - "High Society"
    • TV - Promos - "Journey"
    • TV - Promos - "Matt Waters"
    • TV - Promos - "Murphy Brown"
    • TV - Promos - "The Nanny"

CREDITS

  • Don Hewitt … Executive Producer
  • Philip Scheffler … Senior Producer
  • Arthur Bloom … Producer, Director
  • Robert G. Anderson … Producer, Writer, News Writer
  • Rome Hartman … Producer, Writer, News Writer
  • Howard L. Rosenberg … Producer, Writer, News Writer
  • Allen Mack … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
  • Alicia Tanz Flaum … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
  • Mike Wallace … Reporter
  • Ed Bradley … Reporter
  • Lesley Stahl … Reporter
  • Morley Safer … Reporter
  • Steve Kroft … Reporter
  • Andy Rooney … Reporter
  • Bill Clinton
  • John Weinstein