Tobacco Documents Online

Con~nt and pzoZ_ramming cop)wight (c) 199$ Amer~.c~u Bro~d~-~ing Companies, Inc. All rights re~erv~d. No quote~ from the materials contained herein may be u~ed in ~ly medi~ without attribution to American Broadcasting Cempanies, Inc. This transcript may not be repreduced in v~hol~ or in part without prior permission. For further information please contact ABC's Office of the General Counsel. Transcribed by Federal Document Clearing House, inc. under license from American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. ABC NEWS SHOW: WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH PETER JE~/NINGS (6:30 pm ET) JANUARY 29, 1998 TYPE: PACKAGE Transcript # 98012905-j04 SECTION: NEWS LENGTH: 679 words HEADLINE: A CLOSER LOOK BYLINE: DEBORAH AMOS, PETER JENNINGS HIGHLIGHT: HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED FOR TOBACCO COMPANIES BODY: PETER JENNINGS: A couple of minutes ago, we reported that the big tobacco companies were in Congress today, pushing hard for a national settlement of all the lawsuits against them. The settlement would require the tobacco companies to pay a very large sum of money to the government, and they would agree to be more closely regulated. In return, they would get some protection from future lawsuits. So tonight, we're going to take "A Closer Look" at how far the country has come in three and a half years. Do you remember this? CHAIRMAN: Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give is the troth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. TOBACCO COMPANY EXECUTIVES: I do. PETER JENNINGS: (voice-over) The seven men who ran the tobacco industry almost four years ago... 1 st TOBACCO COMPANY EXECUTIVE: I don't believe that nicotine or our products are addictive. PETEK JENNINGS:...swearing one after the other, under oath, that they did not believe that the nicotine in their prodact was addictive. 2nd TOBACCO COMPANY EXECUTIVE: I believe that nicotine is not addictive.

3rd TOBACCO COMPANY EXECUTIVE: And I, too, l:elieve that nicotine is t~t additive. PETER JENh',IINGS: (voice-over) Evei3' one of these big tobacco executives has moved on or been moved since that day. One h~s died. The Justice D~partment is still investigating whether the others perjured themselves. (on camera) Yes, in ever'.,, imaginable way, times have changed for the tobacco companies. They've been under pressure ever3~'here. Here is ABC's Deborah Amos. DEBORAH AMOS, ABC News: (voice-over) Americans have come a long way on the tobacco road. The romance is gone now. So is Joe Camel. Smokers are out in the cold, banned in baseball parks, restaurants and even in some bars. JOSEPH CALIFANO, National Center on Addiction: in the last couple of years, just about every state in the union has strengthened their anti-smoking ordinances. DEBORAH AMOS: (voice-over) In fact, 28 states have passed some kind of tobacco conii'ol meast~res in the last year alone -- raising cigarette taxes, banning billboard ads and vending machine sales, making prisons smoke-free. And for the first time, underage smokers are fined. In some states, they are arrested. NARRATOR (Anti-Smoking Commercial: We have to sell cigarettes to your kids. DEBORAH AMOS: (voice-over) A new attitude towards tobacco and tobacco companies, says Joe Califano. JOSEPH CALIFANO: The tobacco companies had, for decades, lied to the American people and exploited the children of the United States. DEBORAH AMOS: (voice-over) Certainly, concern that children were specifically targeted focused political will. (on camera) And focused attention not only on the health effects of tobacco but, for the first time, on the conduct of the industry itself. Did they lie? Did they manipulate nicotine? Did they intentionally market to children'?. (voice-over) Looking for answers, a cast of powerful characters -- the first anti-smoking president ever, aggressive government officials. PETER. PRINGLE, Author, "Cornered: Big Tobacco...": You had to have this confluence of events, and you had to have everybody working together. DEBORAH AMOS: (voice-over) And most important, whistle- blowers, including industry scientists who leaked industry secrets. PETER PRINGLE: You've got a fantastic pile of evidence against the tobacco companies which forced them to the negotiating table. So the whole thing has changed. DEBORAH AMOS: (voice-over) In the end, it was the industry that chose to deal rather than fight. The result -- historic state settlements, new regulations, the pending national settlement. Part of that deal, early retirement for this character. But the tobacco companies aren't giving up. They've returned to proven old formulas, betting there's still some romance and big money in tobacco. Deborah Amos, ABC News, New York. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH LOAD-DATE: January 30, 1998 TIC62916~_6