x I
News Digest
Page 2 Daily Nebraskan Wednesday, January 17,2001
Ashcroft: Duty not swayed by opinions
■The attorney general-designate believes his own
views will not affect his service in the White House.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Attorney General-designate John
Ashcroft, answering critics of his anti-abortion and civil
rights views, pledged Tuesday to enforce the nation’s laws
despite his “personal preferences.”
While Ashcroft said in an opening statement at his
Senate confirmation hearing that he believes the Roe v.
Wade case legalizing abortion was “wrongly decided,” he
accepts it “as the settled law of the land. The Supreme
Court’s decisions on this have been multiple, recent and
emphatic.”
He insisted that, if confirmed, he would be “advancing
the national interest, not advocating my personal interest,”
adding that he would enforce federal laws protecting
women’s access to abortion clinics.
“No woman should fear being threatened or coerced in
seeking constitutionally protected health services,” he
said.
Not since the Clarence Thomas hearings a decade ago
has the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings amid
such an onslaught of criticism against a nominee from civil
rights and women’s groups.
“From racial profiling to news of unwarranted strip
searches, the list of injustice in America today is still long.
Injustice in America against any individual must not
stand,” Ashcroft said.
The nominee, a former Republican senator from
Missouri, commented on several specific issues in his
opening statement and then told senators they could
“pummel me with questions.”
“When I swear to uphold the law, I will keep my oath, so
help me God,” Ashcroft said, holding his hand up as he
completed his statement
Four people in the hearing room crowd of200 immedi
ately began yelling, “Ashcroft kills! ”
Within seconds, they were surrounded by police offi
cers, who carried one protester outoftheroomas the other
s
Alex Wong/Newsmakers
A supporter of former Senator John Ashcroft, left, and an anti-Ashcroft protester hold banners as they demonstrate Tuesday on Capitol Hid m
Washington IXCThe Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing this week on the nomination of Ashcroft to the Ui. attorney general position.
three left without resisting. Ashcroft a gun-control oppo
nent who has been opposed by liberal women's groups,
said that as a senator he voted to “deny the right to bear
arms to those convicted of domestic violence offenses."
He said he supported mandatory background checks
for gun show sales and increased federal funds for law
enforcement
Ashcroft testified that his opposition to Missouri
Supreme Court Justice Ronnie White, whose confirmation
to be a federal judge was rejected, was “well founded.”
Critics charged that Ashcroft’s opposition to White, who is
black, was based on race.
"Studying his judicial record, considering the implica
tions of his decisions and hearing the widespread objec
tions to his appointment from a large body of my con
stituents, I simply came to the overwhelming conclusion
that Judge White should not be given lifetime tenure as a
U.S. District Court judge,” Ashcroft said.
I
I • , . ■:
McVeigh execution date set
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OKLAHOMA CITY - The govern
ment set a May 16 execution date
Tuesday for Oklahoma City bomber
Timothy McVeigh, who has dropped
his appeals and is apparently pinning
all his hopes on winning clemency
from the president
The execution date was set by the
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Spokesman
Dan Dunne said the agency will try to
meet the needs of victims’ relatives
and survivors, some of whom have
expressed interest in watching
McVeigh die by lethal injection.
McVeigh* 32, who is on death row at
a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.,
has said he doesn’t plan any more
appeals and last Thursday allowed a
deadline for resuming that process to
expire. However, he has reserved the
right to seek executive clemency.
“That’s something Mr. McVeigh has
under consideration,” said his attor
ney, Nathan Chambers.
McVeigh has 30 days to file a peti
tion for clemency with the Justice
Department which would make a rec
ommendation to the president
George W. Bush, who will be inau
gurated Saturday, is a firm dea^h
penalty supporter: 152 inmates were
put to death during his tenure as Texas
governor, and only once during nearly
six years in office did he ever use his
power to stop an execution.
McVeigh was convicted of murder
and conspiracy for the April 19,1995,
bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building that killed 168 people
and injured hundreds of others. It was
the deadliest act of terrorism ever
committed on U.S. soil.
Prosecutors said McVeigh, a deco
rated Gulf War veteran, was motivated
by hatred of the U.S. government and a
desire for revenge for the April 19,
1993, deaths of about 80 people in the
cult disaster near Waco, Texas.
Terry Nichols was convicted sepa
rately and sentenced to life in prison.
The federal government has not
put a prisoner to death since 1963,
when it executed Victor Feguer for
murder and kidnapping.
There is one federal execution set
before May 16 - that of David Paul
Hammer, who is scheduled to die by
injectionaon Feb. 21 for strangling his
cellmate. But he is pursuing appeals.
“If there is any individual who
deserves the ultimate punishment, it is
Timothy McVeigh, who forfeited his
life the moment he detonated that
deadly cargo he had brought to down
town Oklahoma City,” Gov. Frank
Keating said.
But Kevin Acers, president of the
Oklahoma City Chapter of Amnesty
International, said, “I don't believe that
granting an execution date for Timothy
McVeigh in any way compensates for
the tragedy of his violent act”
Betty Robins, who was working in
the Murrah building at the time of the
bombing, said the execution date is
fine with her.
-1 _ _ .
uIf there is any individual
who deserves the ultimate
punishment, it is Timothy
McVeigh
Frank Keating
governor
“He can be forgiven, but he must
pay restitution, and his death will be
that restitution,” she said. “I just wish
he would tell people why before he
dies and what he wanted to accom
plish.”
Oklahoma City Attorney Karen
Howick said she is pursuing an effort to
get a closed circuit television hookup
for families to watch the execution.
McVeigh has never publicly
explained why he wanted to drop his
appeals and get a prompt execution
date.
McVeigh’s father, retired
Pendleton, N.Y., factory worker
William McVeigh, has said that his son
explained his decision to drop appeals
to the family. He told The Buffalo News:
"I guess his feeling is, he knows he’s
going to die—it might as well be soon
er than later.”
Others speculated McVeigh wants
to become a martyr for anti-govern
ment causes, or wants to mock the
government with his petition for
clemency, knowing that federal
authorities haven’t put anyone to
death in nearly 40 years.
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* DAILY NEBRASKAN
Lawyer blames WWF
for'accidental'death
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI - A teen-ager, who
says he accidentally killed a 6
year-old girl while imitating pro
wrestlers, kicked and slugged her
repeatedly, inflicting injuries
more severe than those seen in
many car crashes, a prosecutor
said Tuesday.
Lionel Tate, 13, smashed
Tiffany Eunick's skull, pulverized
her liver, broke a rib and caused
numerous cuts and bruises, pros
ecutor Ken Padowitz said in
opening statements at Tate's first
TODAY
Mostly cloudy
high 27, low 20
TOMORROW
Cloudy
high 34, low 20
v
degree murder trial.
“Tiffany Eunick was beaten to
death,” Padowitz told the jury.
Tate, who was 12 at the time
and weighed 170 pounds, is being
tried as an adult and faces a
mandatory 25-year sentence with
no parole if convicted.
Defense attorney Jim Lewis
said the 1999 death was an acci
dent
“Lionel didn't understand
that he could hurt the 48-pound
girl if he punched her and threw
her because he had seen pro
wrestlers do that hundreds of
times without injuring each
other,” said Lewis “This was
child’s play and unfortunately
child’s play is sometimes danger
ous.”
Lewis, who has said before
that Lionel has the intelligence of
an 8-year-old, tried unsuccessful
ly to force wrestling stars such as
The Rock Johnson and Hulk
Hogan to testify. The World
Wrestling Federation is suing
Lewis for libel for linking the girl’s
death to pro wrestling.
The death was one of at least
four cases in 1999 in which pro
wrestling was blamed after one
child killed another.
* JL
Shooting leaves
Congo unsure
of leadership
■The status of President Kabila is unknown
after a suspected bodyguard allegedly fired
shots at him.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KINSHASA, Congo - President Laurent Kabila
was shot during an attempted coup on Tuesday, sen
ior Congo officials said, and the Belgian government
reported that the embattled leader was dead.
Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koen
Vervaeke said from Brussels that “two sources, of
whom we are 100 percent certain” said Kabila had
been killed during the intense 30-minute shooting
at his palatial residence in the capital.
“He has probably been shot by one of his
gUcUUS, UCMiU.
The Belgian officials gave no further informa
tion, and the report could not be confirmed in
Kinshasa. Belgium is Congo’s former colonial ruler.
Asked about the report, Interior Minister Gaetan
Kakudji said: “The Belgian Minister of Foreign
Affairs can say what he wants but I will make my
announcement tomorrow.”
A member of Kabila’s security entourage said on
condition of anonymity that the bodyguard had
shot the president in the back and right leg. He
maintained that Kabila was alive and was being
treated by doctors.
French diplomats in Paris also said they believed
Kabila had been shot but was alive.
Intelligence officers in Rwanda said they had
unconfirmed reports that Kabila was killed in the
intense shooting at the presidential palace, which
lasted half an hour. Rwanda supports rebels fighting
to topple the Congolese strongman.
Kabila's government, in earlier statements,
would not be publicly drawn on their president’s
condition, or even whether he’d been shot
“President Kabila is alive and everything is OK,”
said Congolese Gen. Francois Olenga.
The conflicting reports came hours after wit
nesses told of 30 minutes of gunfire around the
home of Kabila, who has been fighting multiple
rebel armies for more than two years. It was unclear
who was responsible for the shooting.
A presidential helicopter landed at Kinshasa’s
mam hospital, a government official who witnessed
the event said, adding there were unconfirmed
reports that the aircraft was carrying Kabila’s son,
Joseph Kabila, who had apparently been injured.
The younger Kabila is the head of Congo's military.
Presidential aide Eddy Kapend went on national
television shortly after the gunfire ended to appeal
for calm, but he made no mention of the incident
The bleary-eyed Kapend ordered that all airports
and borders be closed, appealing to the armed
forces and civil society leaders to help maintain
order.
“The Congolese people need your serenity and
your discipline,” he said.
Later, an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew was announced
by Kakudji as having been ordered by Kabila himself.
Kakudji also put all fighting units in Kinshasa on
alert until further notice.
In the neighboring Republic of Congo, a senior
military official said it was unclear who was in con
trol of the Kinshasa government after Kabila was
wounded. The official declined to be named.
Amid the confusion of the shooting, Kinshasa
residents hurried home and many streets were
quickly deserted. Truckloads of armed soldiers
patrolled the streets in the capital city of the vast
Central African nation.
The Associated Press
■ Washington, D.C
Clinton diagnosed with
treatable skin cancer
A growth removed from
President Clinton’s back last week
turned out to be cancerous but
highly treatable, the White House
saidThesday.
Doctors at Bethesda Naval
Hospital found a fiat lesion on the
president’s back during a routine
physical Jan. 12. They removed it,
and, as a precaution, they treated
skin around it in a procedure
known as "scraping and burning.”
Clinton has had skin growths
before. A precancerous lesion was
removed from his nose in 1996,
and a benign cyst was taken from
his chest a year later.
This new lesion marked the
first time that skin cancer was sus
pected, Dr. David Corbett, retired
chairman of the naval hospital's
dermatology department, said
last week.
* Pathology results confirmed
basal cell carcinoma the most
curable form of skin cancer. The
White House said it strikes
800,000 to 1 million people each
year.
■ California
Stage 3 alert leaves state
scrambling for natural gas
SACRAMENTO- State power
officials declared another elec
tricity emergency Tiiesday morn
ing as several plants reported a
shortage of natural gas. Southern
California Edison told federal reg
ulators it didn’t have the money to
pay its $596 million wholesale
electricity bill
The California Independent .
System Operator, keepers of
much of the energy-starved state’s
power grid, called a Stage 3 alert
after reserves dipped below 11/2
percent A Stage 3 alert could lead
to rolling blackouts if reserves
drop still lower.
Last week, a Stage 3 alert was *
called when the biggest storm to
hit the state in three years cut
electricity generation at a key
nuclear plant. The alert was
droppedbacktoStage2onFriday,
when more power became avail
able from other states.
The new Stage 3 alert was
expected to be in effect all day. A
shortage of natural gas was forc
ing many power plants in
Southern California to switch to
oil, ISO spokesman Patrick
Dorinson said. Power producing
problems are possible and could
worsen the power shortage, he
said
■ Antarctica
Journey across continent
almost over for two women
Ttoo adventurers on a bid to
become the first women to ski
across Antarctica reached the
South Pole on Tuesday, complet
ing nearly two-thirds of their jour
ney, a spokesman for the expedi
tion reported.
Ann Bancroft, 45, of Scandia,
Minn., and Liv Arnesen, 47, of
Oslo, Norway, reached the Pole
after 64 days of skiing and sailing
across the continent, said Charlie
Hartwell, president of a
Minneapolis company support
ing the trek.
The women have covered
1,300 miles and will probably rest
about 24 hours before setting out
on the final 800 miles, he said.
“They went and filled their
bellies with something besides
chocolate, then they gave us a
call,” he said.
Bancroft and Arnesen ran low
on supplies because the expedi
tion was delayed at the outset,
and they had been rationing food
for the past two weeks.
■ Australia
Mass smooch protests
homosexual banishment
BRISBANE - About 100 pro
testers puckered up in public
Sunday to protest restrictions on
kissing at a Brisbane, Australia
park.
The mass smooch, at which
50 couples kissed, was a show of
solidarity with two gay men who
were ejected from the city-run
South Bank Parklands last week
end for kissing in public.
“We don’t see South Bank
Parklands kicking off heterosexu
als you see at the park, so we don't
think there is any reason why gay
couples should be not allowed to
do that as well” Pendleton said.
