Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Wed, Aug 5 1992 Date: Wed, 5 Aug 92 04:32:44 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update Aug. 5, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BUSH REMAINS CONFIDENT: With the cockiness of a man who's sure he has ample firepower in reserve, President Bush told USA TODAY Tuesday he will beat Bill Clinton. "I not only am not going to drop out, I really remain confident that I'm going to win this election," he says. A CNN-Gallup poll released Tuesday shows Democrat Clinton leading Bush 57% to 32% - the lowest Bush has ever scored in that poll. USA, U.N. WANT ACCESS: The United Nations and the U.S. demanded access to detention camps in the war-torn Yugoslav region Tuesday amid reports of torture and murder of civilians. The U.S., which Monday said it had reports of abuses, Tuesday said it could not confirm the reports. However, Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger called Belgrade Tuesday to demand access to detention centers. CALIF. BUDGET CRISIS DRAGS ON: California still doesn't have a budget. State Controller Gray Davis said Tuesday that in two weeks, he won't be able to mail Medi-Cal checks. The state's major computer data center doesn't have enough cash to meet its late-August payroll. Starting Wednesday, California's biggest bank won't cash state IOUs anymore. Some say the crisis will drag on for at least another 10 days. TROOPS HEAD TO KUWAIT: Tuesday, 300 men and women of the Army's XIII Corps Support Command left Fort Hood, Texas, for Kuwait. Two fuel stops and six meals later, they'll be part of a military exercise being used to send a message to Iraq's President Saddam Hussein not to try any tricks as tension in the gulf region soars. Altogether, about 5,000 U.S. troops will be based in Kuwait for two weeks. RESIDENTS FLEE FIRES: Fires in the drought-plagued West have scorched 226,000 acres and sent hundreds of residents fleeing Tuesday. Six homes have been destroyed and firefighters are beginning to compete for resources. There have been 64,416 fires so far this year, compared to 51,960 by this time last year. Hardest hit: Idaho, where the biggest blaze covers 80,000 acres 40 miles northeast of Twin Falls. CHENEY TO ASK FOR VETO: In a strongly worded letter, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney Tuesday put the Senate on notice he'll ask President Bush to veto legislation to end all U.S. nuclear testing by September 1996. The measure was passed by the Senate Monday night. Cheney said the action was "irresponsible" because it assumes all U.S. nuclear safety and security issues will be solved by then. RODRIGUEZ SAYS BUSH DIDN'T KNOW: Felix Rodriguez testified Tuesday he never informed then-vice president George Bush about the covert operation to aid Nicaragua's rebels, even though he met with Bush during the Iran-contra era. Rodriguez testified at the trial of ex-CIA spy chief Clair George. Meanwhile, The New York Times reports Wednesday Iran-contra prosecutor Lawrence Walsh has told Ronald Reagan he isn't a target. CENSUS OFFICIALS SEEK COMMENTS: Census officials said Tuesday instead of making an immediate decision whether to adjust annual population estimates to compensate for an estimated 4 million people missed in 1990, they will seek public comment on the plan. An adjustment would shift about $80.5 billion in annual federal funding from Midwestern and Northeastern states to Southern and Western states. WHITE CHARGED WITH 6 MURDERS: New York parolee Nathaniel White, 32, of Middletown, was charged with murder Tuesday in the slayings of six people, all females ranging in age from 14 to 34. The victims all were stabbed; at least four were found nude, authorities said. White was released from prison in April, after serving a year for robbery and unlawful imprisonment in the abduction of a woman at knifepoint. MORE CHARGES FILED AGAINST WOODS: Los Angeles prosecutors filed additional charges Tuesday against Thurman Woods, 22, accused of attempted murder in the shooting of a firefighter during the April riot. New charges: Assaulting a firefighter with a firearm and being a felon in possession of a gun. DIA DISCOUNTS POW REPORTS: Defense Intelligence Agency officials Tuesday discounted reports that U.S. POWs may have been held as late as the 1980s in an underground prison in a secure area of Hanoi called the Citadel, Vietnam's version of the Pentagon. DIA analyst Robert DeStatte said he is "totally confident" an underground prison would have been detected if one existed. CHOICE BILL DELAYED: Sen. Majority Leader George Mitchell backed off Tuesday from his pledge to pass the Freedom of Choice abortion-rights bill before the Republican convention. Mitchell, D-Maine - who made the pledge to the Democratic convention in July - said the bill has been delayed by legislative "discussions" over possible amendments. President Bush has promised to veto the bill. `LEAD OR LEAVE' STARTS DRIVE: Jon Cowan and Rob Nelson have set up "Lead or Leave," a fledgling grass-roots campaign to pressure presidential and congressional candidates to cut the federal deficit or quit their jobs. Wednesday - armed with letters, petitions and little more - they launch a coast-to-coast effort aimed at holding elected officials accountable to their generation and those that follow. TETHER EXPERIMENT HITS GLITCH: Atlantis' astronauts struggled Tuesday to unreel an experimental satellite on a tether designed to generate electricity in space. After two delays, the satellite gently moved 570 feet from the shuttle, then stopped. It is supposed to go out more than 12 miles. "We believe it could be a jam in the area of the reel motor," flight communicator Jeff Wisoff told the crew. CANADIAN AIR SPARKS STORMS: Cold air from Canada will bring showers and thunderstorms from Mississippi to Georgia Wednesday as pleasant weather prevails over the Great Lakes into the mid-Atlantic. Some Southern states can expect heavy thunderstorms. Sunshine will grace the southern Northeast. Northern locations expect showers. Scattered storms will sweep through Iowa into eastern Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Wednesday at 3395.94 after closing down 11.08 points Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 233.39, down 0.27. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 391.82, up .95. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 581.32, up 1.04. News Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM