ABC19980104.1830.0000 MISCELLANEOUS TEXT (automatic initial) 01/04/1998 18:30:00.00 od for steve fossett's fourth attempt to circle the earth in a balloon. 01/04/1998 18:30:00.95 ABC19980104.1830.0001 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:30:00.95 fossett is now over the black sea, but the winds are not cooperating, and neither is his equipment. abc's sheila macvicar has the latest. Reporter: not visible today, hidden in the fog, only steve fossett's voice was audible as he talked to air traffic controllers in romania this morning. problems were apparent. there's been very slow flying. i have only been flying 30 knots. Reporter: 30 knots and now down the 25 miles per hour. far slower than what his mission controllers had hoped for. the winds in the vicinity of the black sea where steve is flying were about the slowest on the globe. Reporter: steve fossett has other problems, too. his heater is malfunctioning and after two days over the north atlantic and wintry easter europe, he is cold. yesterday he told fellow balloonist richard branson of his difficulties. i feel good. little bit cold. and i'd like to get a little more sleep, but it's generally pretty good. Reporter: by tonight the combination of his lack of speed and his malfunctioning heater had his ground control staff making contingency plans to end his flight. well, we're going to aim to land between the black and caspian sea north of georgia. Reporter: steve fossett and his balloon, "solo spirit," are tonight over the black sea, drifting slowly toward the coast of the chechnya. his team plans, if necessary, to bring him down after daylight tomorrow near the chechen capital of grozny. unable to reach the favorable currents of the jet stream to the south, cursed by malfunctioning heaters and other systems, this second attempt may flounder the way his flight last year did, short of his goal to be the first balloonist to fly around the world nonstop. sheila macvicar, abc news, london. 01/04/1998 18:31:48.67 ABC19980104.1830.0108 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:31:48.67 this was the deadliest weekend in memory in the rocky mountains. a series of avalanches struck on both sides of the canadian/u.s. border. in montana, two people died in separate incidents. in canada, eight are dead. sylvia chase has that story. Reporter: in british columbia a snow mobiler was killed and five skiers were killed at cocany glacier -- a sixth is still missing. with zero visibility all day, there was no way searchers could fly in, and it wasn't just the weather. the continuing hazard is major. it's still high hazard. it's a very large class three avalanche. Reporter: january is the start of peak avalanche season. a year ago, in the french alps, an amateur photographer seemed little more than startled as this avalanche began. but momentum can reach as much as 120 miles per hour, and within a matter of seconds, this italian cameraman was making a second-by-second decision to hold the camera or run away. it's much the same in this summertime glacier avalanche, with relaxed tourists expressing surprise as it begins. seconds later, they are swept away. miraculously, all survived. avalanche expert scott toepfer explains what is causing the current rash of avalanches. you're dealing with more of a natural snowpack that doesn't change. it just continues to remain weak throughout the winter, and it only gets more dangerous as the winter continues on. Reporter: canadian authorities now say more avalanches are likely and warn that travel in the area is not recommended. sylvia chase, abc news, new york. 01/04/1998 18:33:28.27 ABC19980104.1830.0208 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:33:28.27 there's more weather news overseas. gale force winds are tearing across europe this weekend. in britain, 100 mile-an-hour gusts have uprooted trees and torn down power lines. more than 100,000 homes are without power. off the coast, ten fishermen were rescued form their crippled ship today. and across the channel in france, where waves are reaching 30 feet high, cars and pedestrians have been barred from the coast. 01/04/1998 18:33:56.00 ABC19980104.1830.0236 MISCELLANEOUS TEXT (manually segmented) 01/04/1998 18:33:56.00 still ahead on "world news tonight sunday" -- the growing effort the make sure social security is in your future. when the government says the only justice is death. and a key player in the israeli government quits playing. 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Laughing Continues KELLOGG'S COMPLETE BRAN FLAKES. an easy start to a healthier new year. ready to do something about your hearing loss? my beltone invisa, the hidden hearing aid, has something new: the comfort circuit. here's how it works. our comfort circuit automatically adjusts... to help keep loud sounds comfortable... and to make soft sounds easier to hear. i hear great, and it's still as small around as my contact lens. now the comfort circuit and the beltone invisa is digitally programmable. it's like a tiny computer in your ear. visit beltone today and save $100 on invisa. 01/04/1998 18:35:53.07 ABC19980104.1830.0353 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:35:53.07 the white house said today that it's looking for ways to repair the troubled social security program, and it wants to get the ball rolling before the next election. here's abc's karla davis. Reporter: with a six-day vacation barely behind him, president clinton is already defining his 1998 agenda. one item topping the list -- a long-promised bipartisan attempt at fixing social security. there's no more important item on his list of things to accomplish before his term is out than making serious steps to preserving the social security system. Reporter: one step under consideration at the white house is raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67 for social security retirement benefits. the president is also considering calling a special session of congress to deal with this unwieldy issue. it is very difficult to get incumbent politicians now to spend any political capital on this highly volatile and difficult to deal with problem. Reporter: current projections show that the social security trust will run out of money in 30 years. in 1997, 37 million people received retirement benefits. that number is sure to swell as aging baby boomers retire. the republican leadership has a plan of its own for revamping social security. speaker of the house newt gingrich is expected to reveal that plan in a speech tomorrow in atlanta, georgia, the president's first full day of work back at the white house. karla davis, abc news, st. thomas. 01/04/1998 18:37:26.20 ABC19980104.1830.0446 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:37:26.20 it looks like former vice presidential candidate geraldine ferraro is getting back into the race for the u.s. senate. ferraro met with her top advisers at her home in queens, new york, today. democratic sources expect her to announce tomorrow that she is challenging new york republican alfonse d'mato for his seat. 01/04/1998 18:37:46.00 ABC19980104.1830.0466 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:37:46.00 senator strom thurmond left the hospital today. the 95-year-old south carolina republican has been hospitalized with a mild respiratory infection. thurmond, the nation's longest serving senator, goes back to work in three weeks, when congress reconvenes. 01/04/1998 18:38:03.48 ABC19980104.1830.0483 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:38:03.48 the unabomber trial opens tomorrow in california. theodore kaczynski is being tried on four of the 15 bombings. but there's another battle going on outside the court. abc's terry moran is in sacramento. Reporter: when federal agents raided ted kaczynski's montana shack in april, 1996, the evidence they found was devastating and has been all but conceded by the defense. so kaczynski's trial now turns on the stark question of whether he should live or die. and in the battle over kaczynski's life, the key witness could well be his brother david, the man who first tipped off investigators that his reclusive big brother could be the serial killer. here's a guy who turned in his own brother, i think trusting the government to treat his brother with some small bit of compassion. Reporter: but attorney general janet reno recently rejected ted kaczynski's offer to plead guilty to all charges in exchange for his life. reno's decision is now the focus of bitter recriminations from the kaczynski family. the family's lawyer, anthony bisceglie, says they were given assurances that based on his mental state, the government would not seek to execute ted kaczynski. when we first approached the government with david's suspicions, we made it absolutely clear that the individual that we were dealing with had been suffering from a long-standing mental illness and was unable to recognize that he was suffering from that mental illness. Reporter: but reno and her hand-picked team of prosecutors contend that the unabombers crimes were uniquely evil and warrant the death penalty. to the death penalty supporters, this is clear evidence of deliberate, willful, intentional malice. Reporter: so the battle lines are drawn. the government will seek to portray ted kaczynski as a cowardly, cold-blooded terrorist who deserves to die for his crimes, while the defense will try to show the jury that this defendant is too damaged, too mentally ill to be executed. but there is a wild card in this case. kaczynski, himself, has made clear in his writings and in court, that he does not want to be called insane, and that could cost him his life. terry moran, abc news, sacramento, california. 01/04/1998 18:40:16.98 ABC19980104.1830.0616 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:40:16.98 thousands of residents in northern kentucky and southern ohio had to be evacuated from their homes today. officials were concerned about dangerous fumes from a fire that broke out overnight at a fertilizer plant in maysville, kentucky. chemicals were stored there. 01/04/1998 18:40:34.35 ABC19980104.1830.0634 MISCELLANEOUS TEXT (manually segmented) 01/04/1998 18:40:34.35 coming up -- israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, tries to keep the peace following a major defection. what do i want? i want to know i'm headed in the right direction. i want to keep my options open. i...i do want to take care of my family. i want to give something back. i want to learn, find what's right for me, be ready for anything... make the right choices. i want to find the people who can get me there. american express financial advisors can help you decide what you want to do and how to get there. i want to say i made a difference. i want to do more. is there a store between here and the canadian border we haven't been to? come on, couple more stops. honey, i'm beat, i'm starving. here. ensure bars? complete, balanced nutrition... to go. introducing ensure bars. a source of complete, balanced nutrition. packed with protein, vitamins and minerals to help you stay healthy and energetic. delicious. what's next? the canadian border. i'm ready. new ensure bars. 01/04/1998 18:42:47.13 ABC19980104.1830.0767 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:42:47.13 a shake-up in israel today, that could threaten the already fragile mideast peace process. israel's foreign minister kept his word and handed in his resignation. that changes the delicate balance of power in israel's government, and as abc's clay scott reports, that changes everything. Reporter: david levy has threatened to resign before. tonight, he made good on that threat. "i'm through with this partnership," he said. "i have had it." levy accused the government of ignoring the needs of israel's poor and unemployed. his resignation could change the political balance here. i see the levy resignation as the countdown, the beginning of the end of the netanyahu government. Reporter: the departure of levy and his faction would leave benjamin netanyahu with a mere two-seat majority in israel's parliament, but he is confident he will survive. i don't think there will be early elections. Reporter: levy's resignation also deals a blow to the peace process. he has been the current government's staunchest advocate of returning land to the palestinians, a policy that has left him at odds with hard-liners in netanyahu's government. even with david levy as foreign minister, the peace process had slowed almost to a standstill. netanyahu has been under pressure from the u.s. to come up with a plan for significant withdrawal from the west bank, but when he travels to washington later this month to meet with president clinton, the likelihood he will be able to satisfy that demand is more remote than ever. clay scott, abc news, jerusalem. 01/04/1998 18:44:18.34 ABC19980104.1830.0858 MISCELLANEOUS TEXT (manually segmented) 01/04/1998 18:44:18.34 when we come back, is this man getting away with murder? 12,000 people in my home town and i represent all of them. no time to get slowed down by irregularity. my doctor says, "exercise, eat more fiber." but sometimes a meal is whatever you get served. so my doctor suggested metamucil. it's not a chemically-altered fiber, not an artificial stimulant. the only leading brand with 100% natural fiber... is: keeps me regular, gently, changed my life. now i can get out there and change the world. metamucil: 01/04/1998 18:46:29.00 ABC19980104.1830.0989 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:46:29.00 texas is known as a state that's tough on crime. but for one accused killer, texas has become a refuge. he is accused of participating in a horrific massacre. but because that massacre was committed on the other side of the world, in rwanda, he may never go to trial. abc's bob woodruff has the story. Reporter: his name is elizaphan ntakirutimana, a christian hutu pastor. he is accused of genocide, taking part in a 1994 massacre in his church in rwanda. according to his accusers, he lured tutsis into his church, where they were slaughtered. two people even told us, both hutu and tutsi, that he read the list of key tutsi who were supposed to be killed first in the course of this slaughter. Reporter: the killings were part of a month-long bloodbath that swept the country in 1994. when the killing stopped, more than half a million people were dead. the pastor would not speak to us about his role in the massacre. leaving that, instead, to his son. more than 70% or more of the people in rwanda know my father didn't do any of those things. Reporter: former u.s. attorney general ramsey clark is the pastor's lawyer. clark left the johnson administration in 1968 and has built a reputation for fighting the u.s. government. in 1972 he went to hanoi to investigate u.s. war atrocities. and when the u.s. bombed iraq in 1991, he checked on the damage himself. he is also currently representing suspected serbian war criminal radovan karadzic, who was being sued in the u.s. he firmly believes ntakirutinama is innocent. genocide, crimes against humanity, are very serious charges. there's no factual basis for them. that's the problem. Reporter: but others disagree. in 1996 after the united nations asked the u.s. to turn the pastor over for trial in africa, he was arrested by the fbi. but last month a federal magistrate let him go because he said there is no treaty that permits his extradition. human rights groups are outraged. so is the u.s. government, but so far they have not appealed the magistrate's decision. in the meantime, a suspected war criminal is living free in texas with his family by his side. bob woodruff, abc news, washington. 01/04/1998 18:48:51.00 ABC19980104.1830.1131 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:48:51.00 millions of children return to school tomorrow following the holiday break. but one group of students in arizona never went home. the one-of-a-kind school is drawing national attention because of its stringent standards. it was started by the same tough-as-nails sheriff who brought the chain gang back to arizona. abc's jim williams has that story. Reporter: a teenage chain gang begins at dawn in the arizona desert, clearing tumbleweed, hauling boulders. you guys have got your rakes, shovels, start clearing two feet on each side of the trail. Reporter: yet the hardest work is still hours away. native americans, where did they come from? Reporter: this is where these teenage prisoners are really pushed, a classroom in the maricopa county jail in phoenix. it's america's first full-time high school in a jail. already famous and controversial for bringing back chain gangs to arizona, this school's hall monitor is called the country's toughest sheriff. you can't force them to study. but if they don't, they can spend 23 hours out of the day in that cell block. Reporter: 17-year-old arnold machado's one-year sentence for selling drugs is pushing him to crack the books for the first time. i just used to goof around sometime, like ditch and do dumb stuff. in here, i can't do that, so i get more of an education. Reporter: some 30 of the jail's 250 teenage inmates attend the high school. they study the basics -- english, math and history, earning credits toward a diploma. the sheriff wants to expand the high school for an additional 100 inmates/students. but to do that, more teachers have to be hired. and perhaps the jail's biggest challenge is getting teachers to come here. we are talking about countries that are in this area. Reporter: many teachers fear they'll find a blackboard jungle here, even if guards are stationed just outside the classroom. but deita thompson came here because she believes even convicted felons deserve an education. if they get 25 years, and they're 15 years old, they're getting out at a very young age. and i would rather prepare them to get out and make them a better person while they're here. Reporter: thompson's payoff is that some of her students, like convicted armed robber jesse james jones, are trying to change the habits that landed them here. it feels weird, 'cause i do all my homework now, on time and all that. Reporter: when class lets out, there's no football practice or drama club for these students. in the solitude of a cell block, there's little to do, besides homework. jim williams, abc news, phoenix. 01/04/1998 18:51:30.03 ABC19980104.1830.1290 MISCELLANEOUS TEXT (manually segmented) 01/04/1998 18:51:30.03 when we come back an american best -seller hits the road again. his heart attack, ed's doctor told him to exercise and take aspirin regularly. so he takes genuine bayer aspirin to help prevent a second heart attack. ask your doctor. but then there are those days when ed's muscles ache and ed could use extra strength bayer. nothing is stronger for everyday pain. ...you don't need tylenol, because... how are your legs? great! race you home! ready to do something about your hearing loss? my beltone invisa, the hidden hearing aid, has something new: the comfort circuit. here's how it works. our comfort circuit automatically adjusts... to help keep loud sounds comfortable... and to make soft sounds easier to hear. i hear great, and it's still as small around as my contact lens. now the comfort circuit and the beltone invisa is digitally programmable. it's like a tiny computer in your ear. visit beltone today and save $100 on invisa. 01/04/1998 18:53:19.80 ABC19980104.1830.1399 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:53:19.80 in some sports news, the coach of the nebraska cornhuskers today finally announced the day he'll retire -- february 4th. tom osborne's announcement comes just after his cornhuskers were named the number one team in a coaches poll. but an ap media poll named michigan number one. the split has sparked a fierce debate among fans and sports journalists and alumni everywhere. we talked to some of them. as far as i was skorned you have to pick one or the other. and i would have picked michigan. you can't have seen nebraska's season and said that they didn't deserve after 13-0, the national chpship every bit as much as michigan did. it's pretty much infair for a team to go all that way and not be able to prove it in the polls. even though they're all complaining they will be thankful for this years from now because unlike in a playoff, both sides can now complain forever that they were number one and if one team had to lose, one would be the loser. now they can say that they're both winners. good. some sports journalists weighing in on how to pick the number one college football team. 01/04/1998 18:54:30.65 ABC19980104.1830.1470 NEWS STORY 01/04/1998 18:54:30.65 finally tonight, start your engines, the 1998 detroit auto show opens tomorrow, and today they're racing to get everything ready. one of this year's most highly anticipated new cars won't be unveiled until tomorrow, but you've probably heard of it, since it's already been around the block a few times. here's abc's jane clayson. Reporter: it's been nearly 50 years since the volkswagen beetle first put-putted into the american consciousness. because the volkswagen doesn't go out of style overnight. Reporter: this little car, "the people's car," revolutionized the way we drove. it was practical and cheap. functional, not stylish. originally designed on adolf hitler's orders in the 1930s as an affordable family car, it appeared in the u.s. in 1949. over the years, the beetle became the "love bug" and a symbol of "flower power." it's still a cultural icon today. it's not flush or anything. it's loud, but it's such a fun car to drive. it's like a beach kind of car. that's what it is. i don't know what it is, but once it's got a hold of you, it's got you for life. Reporter: volkswagen is counting on that "beetlemania" when it unveils a new version of the car at auto shows tomorrow. we can't show you the actual model, but here's what the latest prototype looks like. it's a sleeker bug, with air bags, automatic transmission, a blue-lit speedometer and something no other car has -- a three-inch bud vase on the dash. it's been 20 years since the beetle's been sold in the united states, so volkswagen is launching a high-priced, high-profile marketing campaign aimed primarily at baby boomers with nostalgic memories of the old model. and younger drivers born after the beetle craze may be curious, too. except for one thing -- the price. when the first beetles were sold, they cost about the equivalent of $5,400 today. the price of the 1998 model? between $16,000 and $20,000. the price is going to be the key. if they keep that price down, all of us are going to be driving one or buying one for our kids. Reporter: the old beetle continues to be the best-selling car in history -- over 20 million beetles sold. the new model will be in showrooms this spring, when volkswagen hopes another generation will be bit by the new bug. jane clayson, abc news, los angeles. 01/04/1998 18:56:57.53 ABC19980104.1830.1617 MISCELLANEOUS TEXT (manually segmented) 01/04/1998 18:56:57.53 and that's "world news tonight" for this sunday. tomorrow on "good morning america," a preview of the unabomber trial. and a visit from legendary miami dolphins quarterback, bob griese and his son, rose bowl mvp brian griese. i'm carole simpson. have a good week and a good night. -- Captions by VITAC -- Burbank, Pittsburgh, Tampa, and Washington, D.C. captioning made possible by the u.s. department of education and abc, inc. 01/04/1998 19:00:00.00