[Georges]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]

[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#none--NEWSPATH LIVE]
[GRAPHIC=Hurricane Georges]

Hurricane Georges has arrived on the U-S mainland with an explosion of wind and rain, pounding the Alabama and Mississippi gulf coast.
It's been raining for hours, and forecasters say it' will continue to rain now that the storm has stalled.
Storm totals could exceed 40 inches in some places.
The hurricane's strong winds, some which gusted to more than 170 miles an hour, are expected to gradually die down.

Drew Levinson reports from Biloxi.
[Live=Full/Newspath]
[SUPER=01-Drew Levinson/Reporting;]
[SUPER=05-Biloxi, MS;]
( ad lib)
(Rollcue: )
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-A. J. Halloway/Mayor Of Biloxi;]
[SUPER=03-New Orleans, LA;]
[SUPER=01-James Lee Witt/FEMA;]
((
HURRICANE GEORGES ROARED ASHORE PACKING SUSTAINED WINDS OF 105 MILES PER HOUR WITH EVEN MORE POWERFUL GUSTS. MOST RESIDENTS ALONG THE GULF COAST HEEDED EVACUATION WARNINGS. AND IT'S A GOOD THING, BECAUSE THE STORM PACKED A MIGHTY PUNCH. LOOK AT WHAT IT DID TO THIS GAS STATION...THE AWNING FOLDED IN ON ITSELF LIKE A LEGO TOY. AND THE COMBINATION OF WIND AND RAIN WAS TOO MUCH FOR THIS BUILDING. THE ROOF COLLAPSED, SOAKING EVERYTHING INSIDE. EVEN SO, BILOXI'S MAYOR IS OPTIMISTIC THAT THIS MIGHT BE THE WORST OF IT.
A.J. HALLOWAY, MAYOR OF BILOXI)

(LOCATOR: NEW ORLEANS, LA)


(NATSOT-LAKE PONCHATRAIN)

NEW ORLEANS ESCAPED THE BRUNT OF THE STORM, BUT STIL EXPERIENCED SOME OF GEORGES' FURY. AN ANGRY LAKE PONCHATRIAN CHURNED, AS TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH WINDS BLEW BLEW ACROSS THE CRESCENT CITY. THE SUPERDOME WAS TURNED INTO A SHELTER. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CALLED IT HOME, FEARING THE WORST.
BUT IT WILL BE SOME TIME BEFORE THE ALL-CLEAR IS GIVEN IN MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA, BECAUSE THE STORM IS MOVING SO SLOWLY.
JAMES LEE WITT, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, "WE EXPECT THREE DAYS OF RAIN)
[Live=Full/Newspath]
[SUPER=05-Biloxi, MS]
( ad lib)
[OUT Q=back to you in the studio.]

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[WX-Georges]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]

Now for the very latest on Georges' path, let's check in with Patrick Evans. [Take Patrick at Chromakey]
(ad lib)

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[GE-Layoffs]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=sgo]
[TAPE#=net-C]
[GRAPHIC=General Electric]

General Electric's plant in Salem is laying off another group of workers today. The company is cutting 100 salaried jobs from its work force.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem/File Tape;]

The company is met with employees this morning to make the announcement.
These layoffs were expected.
Earlier this year, the company merged two of its divisions and said it would have to eliminate a number of jobs to keep the company efficient.
Production at the Salem plant has been slow since January, when G-E laid off 245-people.
About 18-hundred people work at the Salem facility.
(------------)

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[ISRAEL-CLINTON]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#net-D]
[GRAPHIC=Bill Clinton]

After three days of Democratic fundraising President Clinton focuses on the Middle East today.
[ss=Mideast Peace]

He's taking part in a three way meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat.
The Clinton administration hopes the meeting will bridge some of the gaps that have kept both sides at a stalemate for 18 months.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Umm Al-Fahm, Israel;]
[7:22:28]
Meantime, clashes continued overnight between Israeli- Arabs and Israeli security forces.
It began when security forces tried to evacuate protestors staging a sit- in on a plot of land the Israeli army has decided to develop into a military training area.
Close to 60 were injured and another 20 arrested.
(----------------)

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[E-Pulaski-Ax]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-52; 1:18:53]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Accident]

A Pulaski family is dealing with the loss of two members in a car accident yesterday.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski;]

It happened near the intersection of Route 11 and Morehead Lane.
State police say the car ran off the road and hit a tree.
Three year old Jordan Smith and 21-year old Latoya Jena Brooks were ejected.
Brooks died at the scene.
Smith died moments later at the hospital.
18-month-old Andrew Conner suffered internal injuries.
He is in stable condition in the intensive care unit at Columbia Pulaski Community Hospital.
Margie Brooks, the driver of the car, is listed in fair condition. 9-year old Sabrina Hicks, a family friend, is in stable condition.
A fifth passenger, Mary Brooks, escaped unharmed.
(------------)

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[E-Wythe-Ax]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=sta]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Accident]

A Wythe County accident also claimed 2 lives yesterday.
The crash occurred on Interstate 81 near the 72 mile marker when a vehicle ran off the road and hit a guardrail.
Seventy-three year old Monroe Rathborne Junior and his wife Barbara were killed.

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[Tech-Incident]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-53 1:27:54]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A Virginia Tech basketball player faces felony charges after he reportedly fired a high-powered handgun into the air on campus.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg;]
School officials say Kenny Harrell walking with some other students down Washington Street past a row of dorms across from Cassell Coliseum. Tech spokesman Dave Nutter says campus police witnessed Harrell pull a semi-automatic weapon from his pocket and shoot skyward. Nutter says The Newport News native faces felony charges of shooting a firearm on school property.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT=15:02:34]
[IN Q=HE DEFINITELY]
((DAVE NUTTER/VA. TECH SPOKESMAN; HE DEFINITELY FACES LOCAL CRIMINAL CHARGES. HIS CASE WILL BE REFERRED TO THE UNIVERSITY JUDICIAL SYSTEM TO ACCESS WHETHER THESE INCIDENTS REPRESENT A VIOLATION OF THE UNIVERITY POLICY AS WELL.))
[SUPER=01-Dave Nutter/Virginia Tech Spokesman;]
[RUNS=:18]
[OUT Q=AS WELL.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Harrell has also been suspended indefinitely from the basketball team.
(------------)

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[E-Domestic-Violence]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=98-51; 02:04:04]
[GRAPHIC=Domestic Violence]

Lynchburg has received federal help to combat domestic violence in the Hill City -- to the tune of a half MILLION dollars.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

The money comes from the Department of Justice and will fund a computer system, prevention training and a new coordinator position in the commonwealth's attorney's office.
Prosecutor Bill Petty says it will be money well spent.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 5:21:38]
[IN Q=We want to]
((BILL PETTY/LYNCHBURG PROSECUTOR: WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO LET THEM KNOW THAT WHAT WE ARE ABOUT IS NOT ALWAYS PUNISHING FOR PAST VIOLENCE, BUT ENSURING THAT FUTURE VIOLENCE DOESN'T OCCUR, AND WE NEED THEIR SUPPORT IN ORDER TO DO THAT. WE THINK THAT HAVING SOMEONE THAT CAN DO THAT FOLLOW- UP WITH THESE VICTIMS THE DAY AFTER THE OFFENSE OCCURRED WILL HELP US.))
[SUPER=01-Bill Petty/Lynchburg Prosecutor; :00]
[RUNS=21]
[OUT Q=will help us.]
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=none]

Petty says nearly half the cases his office handles every year involved domestic violence.
This marks the second time Lynchburg has won the federal grant money.

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[RENO-release]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=MEL]
[TAPE#net-A]
[GRAPHIC=Janet Reno]

Attorney General Janet Reno is out of the hospital.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Washington DC;]
[10:11:52]
She was released this morning, one day after fainting during church.
Following overnight observation her doctors pronounced her -- ``100 percent fit for duty.''
Reno had a similar fainting spell while attending a conference in Mexico City last year.
Doctors attributed it to exhaustion and dehydration.
Reno suffers from Parkinson's disease.
(----------------)

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[GERMANY]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=MEL]
[TAPE#net-E]
[GRAPHIC=None]

After 16 years with Helmut Khol as their leader, Germans woke up today realizing they had voted the man who brought East and West Germany back together out of office and into the history books.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bonn, Germany;]

Their new designated chancellor-- (GEHR'-hahrd) Gerhard Schroeder -- began talks today on building a coalition government.
[SUPER=03-Frankfurt, Germany;]

The change in government had little affect on the German financial market.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Because the elections]
(( BRUNO KLING:BECAUSE THE ELECTIONS IN THIS CASE ARE EXPECTED AND THE MORE POWERFUL THING IS THINGS LIKE LONG-TERM CREDIT MANAGEMENT, MORE IMPORTANT ALL THE CRISES ALL OVER THE WORLD AND HERE BECAUSE OF THE ELECTION WE HAVE BUSINESS AS USUAL TODAY. ))
[SUPER=01-Bruno Kling/Broker;]
[RUNS=:13]
[OUT Q=as usual today.]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]

Kohl sought an unprecedented fifth term on the strength of his image of stability and clout with world powers.
But Germans prefer jobs over clout.
Along with cutting the jobless rate, Schroeder has to oversee the return of the government to its pre-war capital, Berlin, and keep watch over the conversion to a single European currency.
(----------------)

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[vA-vOTING]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=MEL]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Voting]

A Washington think tank says Virginia deserves a slap on the wrist -- for being among the most UNDEMOCRATIC states in the country.
The Center for Voting and Democracy cited lack of voter participation, one-sided congressional races and numerous unopposed elections in its analysis.
Virginia was ranked 35th -- better than most other states in the South, but still in the bottom third nationally.

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[Polling]

[ANCHOR=Melanie--ONRECORD SET]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=net-]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Polls taken after the release of President Clinton's videotaped grand jury testimony continue to show strong job approval ratings.
(------------)
[PRE-PRO]
A C-N-N poll gave him a favorable rating of 66 percent.
A-B-C's poll put it at 60 percent.
A C-B-S survey showed 68 percent of those questioned like Clinton's job performance.
And most people tell the pollsters they don't want Clinton to resign.
The Gallup poll found 39 percent saying he should.
N-B-C's poll put that figure at 36 percent.
CBS had it at 38 percent.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[On Record]
Most of these polls surveyed anywhere from 500 to 700 adults nationwide.
And a lot of people wonder just how accurate they are.
[2-shot=Melanie/Guest]

Dr. Harry Wilson of Roanoke College is with us today to talk about political polls and the Clinton scandal.
He's an associate professor of political science, and has conducted several public opinion surveys of people in the Roanoke Valley.
Questions: How accurate are these network polls?
[super=01-Dr. Harry Wilson/Roanoke College Assoc. Professor]
How do the networks find people to survey? Why are the figures different? A lot of people look at these polls and just don't believe them; they can't understand how the president can be in such a mess and still have high job approval ratings.

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[McGwire]

[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-15]
[GRAPHIC=Mark McGwire]

The King has left the building- at least for this year.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-St. Louis, MO/FOX Sports;]

On the final day of the Cardinals season, Mark McGwire hit two homers- one in the third and this three run blast over the left field wall in the seventh.
And when the dust had cleared, McGwire emerged with a grand total of 70 homeruns for the season.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q="Actually, 70...]
[SUPER=01-Mark McGwire/Major League Home Run Champ; :00]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=....what can I say."]
[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[GRAPHIC=Sosa Logo]

Sammy Sosa failed to homer in Chicago's game against Houston.
He'll get another chance later today when the Cubs take on the Giants in a one- game playoff for the National League wild card spot.
Sosa has 66 homeruns.

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[Skins]

[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-14]
[GRAPHIC=Redskins/Broncos]

For the first time in eight years, the Denver Broncos won a game without John Elway at quarterback.
Bubby Brister stepped in, and led the Bronco's over the Redskins 38 to 16.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Raljon, MD/CBS Sports; :]

Brister led the charge on the Bronco's first possession. Here he finds Ed McCaffery on the 16 yard t-d pass.
It was 10- nothing when Darrin Gordon intercepts Trent Green's pass. He returns it 55 yards, and Denver goes up 17 in the second quarter.
But the Redskins come back. Terry Allen scores on the 5 yard run to make it 17- 7 Broncos at the half.
After the intermission, Denver opens it up. Brister hits Howard Griffith on the 15
[SUPER=30-Denver/38/Washington/16/;]
yard pass and the Broncos win 38 to 16. [wipe wipe wipe] (------------)