WDBJ 7 news at 5 for 04/18/01

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Today on News 7 at 5, the Federal Reserve makes a surprising announcement that sends investors on Wall Street scrambling,
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also we'll see if safety concerns will stop production of a controversial military aircraft.
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We are heading in the right direction for warmer temperatures. The latest forecast details coming up.

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[ANCHOR=Jean]
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Also today, NASA unveils a plane that it says can fly from New York to Los Angeles in 30 minutes,
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and we'll see how two people are making the most of the gift of life they receive from an 18 year old organ donor.
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[ANCHOR=Jean]

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[VO-NAT]

Wall Street reacts in a big way after the Federal Reserve makes a surprise announcement.
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[anchor=Teresa]
Good evening, I'm Teresa Hamilton. Jean has the night off.

[5-Marketwatch]

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No one was expecting it, but the Federal Reserve cut another half a percentage point off of interest rates today.
Investors enthusiastically embraced the news. The DOW finished the day with a gain of nearly 400 points.
Alexis Christoforous has more.
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[5-Skakel]

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A key prosecution witness in the Michael Skakel case has dropped something of a legal bombshell.
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[VO-NAT 13:21:27]
[SUPER=03-Stamford, CT;]
Skakel is the Kennedy cousin accused of killing his 15- year old neighbor. Today-- one of the prosecution's key witnesses testified he was strung out on heroin when he testified last year that Skakel confessed to him about the murder. Gregory Coleman was one of two students who said Skakel confessed while they attended an alcohol treatment center in the late 1970's. Today Skakel's attorney tried to cast more doubt on the prosecution's case by describing conditions at the center.
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[SOT it's the only bite in the pkg]
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((MICHAEL SHERMAN/SKAKEL ATTORNEY: THEY BEAT HIM TO A PULP THEY PUT HIM IN A BOXING RING MADE HIM SCRUB TOILETS ALL NIGHT, DEPRIVED HIM OF FOOD... THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE DID.))
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The testimony came during a hearing to determine if there's enough evidence to try the 40- year old Skakel for murder.

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[5-China-Plane]

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The White House says talks between the U-S and China today were not productive.
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[VO-NAT 14:49:34]
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The two sides sharply differed in negotiations in Beijing on the downed U-S spy plane still being held in China. There were also differing opinions on U-S surveillance flights in general. U-S officials are threatening to call off further talks unless Beijing responds to their demand to return the Navy plane.
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[5-Osprey-Planes]

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A defense department committee today recommended that the troubled Osprey aircraft continue to be developed. But at a slower pace that will ensure it's safe before any more Marines climb aboard. Jennifer Jones reports.
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((
With a series of devastating crashes marring its brief life with the Marine Corps, the V-22 Osprey is a bird whose wings are tied for now. As critics contend its development was a rush to failure, a Defense Department panel reviewing the evidence said the Osprey's development should continue, but it's no where near ready for prime time. An attorney for widows of Osprey crash victims agreed.

SOT: Brian Alexander, Widows' Attorney
"What it is about is this process that's allowed these manufact. to get away with giving the Marine Corps an aircraft that is, abundantly obviousnow, nowhere near ready."
The Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane, has suffered four crashes including two last year that killed 23 Marines. The crashes are linked to design flaws. The widows of some of the victims praised the Defense Department for slowing the Osprey program down, but wondered why the extensive review now underway wasn't done before.

SOT: Sherry Kennedy, Widow
"We must not return the aircraft to the Marine Corps until all known and suspected dangers are resolved. Safety must come first."
There has been sharp criticism that the Marines were too intent on winning Pentagon approval for the aircraft. An official investigation supports accusations that senior commanders rushed the aircraft through development and ignored or even suppresed evidence that it simply is not safe to fly.

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Nat Pop: Osprey Test Flight Crash
Only 8 Osprey have been built so far. 458 are planned at a total cost of 40-billion dollars. It's hoped the Osprey will eventually replace the Marines' aging helicopter fleet. But it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. Jennifer Jones, CBS News. ))

[5-D-Day-Plane]

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While the troops who went ashore during D-Day in 1944 have been honored many times, little attention has been paid to the pilots who assisted in that invasion.
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A group of Bedford County men has been working to change that.
They've spent the past nine months rebuilding a World War Two reconnaissance plane in a hangar at the New London Airport.
It's the same kind of plane that helped pinpoint enemy positions on Omaha Beach.
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((RICHARD BURROW/D-DAY MEMORIAL: AND THEY'VE DONE IT SO HISTORICALLY ACCURATELY IN TERMS OF THE WRAP AROUND THE WINGS AND THE PAINTING AND THE MARKINGS AND SO FORTH, WE'RE REALLY PROUD TO BE THE RECIPIENTS OF SUCH A WONDERFUL DONATION THOSE GUYS HAVE MADE TO US.))
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[VO-NAT]

The plane will be erected at the memorial next month.
Its permanent home will be inside the education center once that's constructed within the next few years.
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[Robin-Tease] [04/18/2001]
[SS=NONE]ROBIN IN WX-CENTER
[WXPRO/FULL] WEATHER MAP TOMORROW FORECAST FIVE DAY FORECAST

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Coming up next on the newscast, the futures of several prominent state politicians could be decided today over a plate of smoked fish...we'll have a live report from the annual shad planking,
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and also we'll tell you why the President of Hollins University says she is stepping down at the end of the year.
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[5-Shad-Planking]

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The Shad is actually from North Carolina this year, but the politics is all Virginia Style. The 53rd annual shad planking is underway in Wakefield, courtesy of the Wakefield Ruritan Club.
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Ellen Qualls is in the thick of it.
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((ROLLCUE:...***ROLLED FROM THE TRUCK**))
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Q&A: Ellen, was the Shad any good?

[5-Hollins-President]

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A change at the top for Hollins University...
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[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.]
After five years as president, Janet (RAS-mus-sin) Rasmussen has resigned effective at the end of the school year.

Rasmussen says philosophical differences led to her resignation.
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((THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN ANY DYNAMIC SITUATION AND HOLLINS COMES FIRST))
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Rasmussen signed a five year contract extension in the Fall, amid an enrollment decline. The school will have fewer than 200 students in its freshman class next year. Walter (RU-gay-ber) Rugaber, a member of the board of trustees and retired publisher of the Roanoke Times will serve as the interim president.
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[5-Organ-Donation]

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In Health Check Tonight,
There are nearly 2-thousand people on a waiting list in Virginia for organs --more than 75-thousand people nationwide.
This is National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness week.
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And Tonight Health Check Reporter Joy Sutton tells the stories of two people in our area who have benefited from organ transplants.
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Teresa, Joan Akers and John Bradshaw both received a kidney from the same 18 year old man.
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And now the two say they share a special bond --and are forever grateful to the man who gave them back their lives.
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((
These days Joan Akers says she can enjoy working on her flowers --something she couldn't do when she was on dialysis.

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((WHEN YOU'RE ON DIALYSIS YOU'RE SO FATIGUED -- IT'S SORT OF LIKE THE WORST CASE OF THE FLU)) [RUNS10]
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And now she also cares for her granddaughter-- something that also wasn't possible before her kidney transplant three years ago.
But she says still struggles with the fact that her donor was an 18 year old man. She says she prays for his mother every day.
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[IN Q=Thinking about having children of my own]
((THINKING ABOUT HAVING CHILDREN OF MY OWN AND LOSING A CHILD. BUT A PART OF HIM LIVES ON --THEY DIDN'T DIE IN VAIN -- AND YOU GIVE LIFE TO SOMEONE)) [RUNS16]
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And John Bradshaw was another person that the young man gave life to.
His kidneys had deteriorated so badly, he had to have dialysis three times a week.
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[IN Q=How can you say thankyou]
((JOHN BRADSHAW: HOW CAN YOU SAY THANK YOU TO SOMEONE WHO HAS GIVEN YOU YOUR LIFE BACK. IT'S KIND OF TOUGH TO DO. IT'S DIFFICULT TO PUT INTO WORDS WHAT IT REALLY MEANS)) [RUNS09]
[OUT Q=what it really means]))
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Tomorrow on Health Check we'll here from a family whose son's organs saved five lives -including a U-V-A football player.
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Teresa

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This Saturday is Earth Day and if you are looking for a way to improve your enviroment, stay tuned...Jacey Birch has some suggestions.
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[5-Feature]

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A local college is planting some ideas... and providing ways to keep Virginia landscapes beautiful.
It's all in preparation for Earth Day 2001 this Saturday.
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Jacey Birch catches a green-thumb red-handed today at Virginia Western Community College.
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Still to come on the newscast, NASA unveils a plane that can travel seven times faster than the speed of SOUND,
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[VO] But first in Sports, Barry Bonds blasts his way into an elite club of major leaguers.
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[S5-Baseball]

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Good afternoon everyone. We're going to start your midweek two minute ticker off on the professional diamond.
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Barry Bonds has join an elite list of 17.
Bonds hit his 500th home run last night.
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[SUPER=03-San Francisco, CA/MLB;]

Bonds reached this milestone in the eighth inning of San Francisco's three to two win over Los Angeles.
The Giants trailed two to one before Bonds rocked this Terry Adams pitch into McCovey Cove.
Bonds was joined at home plate by former Giants and fellow 500 homerun club members Willie Mayes and Willie McCovey.
[super=04-MLB;]

Elsewhere in the majors the Devil Rays have fired manager Larry Rothschild.
Bench coach Hal McRae is taking his place.
Rothschild compiled a 205-and-294 record during three-plus seasons as Tampa Bay's first-ever skipper.
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[S5-Vick]

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Michael Vick's agent and the San Diego Chargers have started contract negotiations.
His agent is reportedly asking for a deal between 50 and 60 million dollars.
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[SUPER=03-San Diego/Last Week;]

The former Virginia Tech quarterback is expected to go first in the draft.
Vick would not be expected to start for the next season or two... because the Chargers signed quarterback Doug Flutie last month.
Vick and Flutie met last week.
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[S5-Express]

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Roanoke could not survive the Storm last night so the Express' season ended in Toledo--game five of the first round ECHL playoff series.
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[SUPER=03-Toledo, OH/Last Night;]

The Storm beat Roanoke five to two. Head Coach Perry Florio says he's proud of his team's effort.
Roanoke had a goal called back and Florio says most of the calls seemed to go Toledo's way.
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Coming up tonight at six, Roy Stanley catches us up with Tommy Edwards, former Radford High School and Virginia Tech football star.
Teresa will be back to wrap up News 7 at Five after this.

[5-New-Plane]

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NASA unveiled the high speed jet of the future today.
It's powered by an engine that uses no fuel and travels at seven times the speed of sound.
Chris Lawrence has more.
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[SUPER=01-Joel Sitz/Project Manager;]
[SUPER=01-Chris Lawrence/CBS News;]
[SUPER=01-Vince Rausch/Program Manager;]
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[OUT Q=CBS News Los Angeles]
((Imagine a new breed of aerospace flight ..rocketing through the air at Mach 7 and powered by an air-breathing engine. Now forget about imagining. It's here.

(SOT JOEL SITZ/PROJECT MANAGER)
"We're doing for hypersonics what the Wright Brothers did for subsonics 100 years ago."
NASA is about to begin hypersonic test flights from the Dryden Flight Center in California. The X-43 is small, about 12 feet long with no pilot. It's attached to a B-52 which will carry it over the Pacific Ocean.

(SOT SITZ)
"The launch vehicle will send a signal to the test vehicle ..saying 'I'm ready to separate. I have you at the right test condition.'"
That's when it hits 95,000 feet ..going 7 times the speed of sound. But it's no rocket, which carries its own oxygen for combustion. The X-43 is a scramjet, which scoops air from the atmosphere ..making it lighter and faster.

(S/U CHRIS LAWRENCE/CBS NEWS)
"An aircraft moving at Mach 5 travels about one mile per second. This one is going to go Mach 7 ..meaning I could leave Los Angeles and arrive in New York in half an hour."
And the scramjet's designers are looking at what that means for the future. Short-term, safer, cheaper ways to get to space. Down the road, they hope to have a full-size model up and and running.

(SOT VINCE RAUSCH/PROGRAM MANAGER)
"I'd like to see systems we can take off and fly routinely. No different flying from here to Chicago or someplace."
That's still 30 years down the road. But the future begins next month ..when the X-43 takes flight for the first time. Chris Lawrence CBS News Los Angeles.))

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