This is not a cocktail lounge that you can wander in and take a seat at the bar and tell your story to the bartender.
While a White House aide sits this one out, a former presidential deputy steps up to the bar.
Harold Ickes begins telling his side of the campaign money trail story.
A partisan game plan that treated the Constitution and the right of free speech it guarantees as technicalities to be gotten around.
Campaign finance reform may be coming around again someday, but we'll tell you why it didn't get through the Senate today.
We kept hearing this rolling thunder and then my wife got up, looked through the front door and saw this wall of mud just coming into the house.
We'll tell you about a California mudslide caused by not only water and dirt, but also by fire.
Was more than one person involved in last week's deadly high school shooting in Mississippi? We'll take a look.
And a rare look at illegal immigrants who have just crossed the California-Mexican border.
Good evening and welcome to The World Today. I'm Leon Harris.
I'm Joey Chad. It has been a busy and bitterly combative day on Capitol Hill.
The man who may know the most about the Clinton administration's fundraising activities made a much anticipated appearance before a Senate committee.
But before former aide Harold Ickes launched into his staunch defense of the White House,
committee Republicans aimed some blistering attacks at President Clinton and at Attorney General Janet Rigno.
CNN's Bob Franken begins our coverage tonight.
Nothing but the cruiser up your guy.
It wasn't until late in the day that Harold Ickes finally began testifying after hours of waiting.
I know that it is customary for witnesses to express their great pleasure to appear before you.
But because I'm under oath, I'm unable to say I share that sentiment.
Ickes was never known as a shrinking violet when he was a key White House aide with heavy Clinton-Gore campaign responsibilities.
To raise the funds to stay competitive, it was necessary and fully appropriate to involve the president and vice president in fundraising activities.
I so advise them and I have no regret.
Ickes had been kept cooling his heels for hours while Republicans ripped into the administration.
Committee Chairman Fred Thompson lashed out at the White House for its failure for months to hand over tapes of 44 copies for political supporters.
He aimed his pointed comments directly at the president.
And now I think the American people expect you to step up to the plate and take responsibility.
Because surely nobody wants this to go down looking like a successful cover-up of much more serious activities.
But many Republicans angrily charged there already is one, conducted by the Attorney General Janet Reno.
The Attorney General is so inconsistent in her statements that I share with you a concern that the president of the United States ought to relieve her of her responsibility.
The Justice Department quickly retorted, this is why the law must be interpreted by professionals, not by politicians.
Political bullying will never work with this Attorney General.
The criticism she has received, the threats that have been made against her and the position she holds, are the political equivalent of an obstruction of justice.
And now the main event, Ickes slugs it out with Republican senators.
Ickes will be grilled for at least another day.
As Deputy White House Chief of Staff, he held the keys to most of the closets and Republicans want him to help them find the skeletons.
Bob Franken, CNN, Capitol Hill.
And CNN plans live coverage of Ickes continuing testimony before the Senate committee.
You can see it here tomorrow, beginning at 10 o'clock in the morning Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific.
As we've seen, the senators today had more questions about the sudden appearance of those tapes of the White House coffees.
Well, the Justice Department wants answers too, so a White House official will go before a grand jury tomorrow to talk about the tapes.
CNN's Eileen O'Connor reports.
Senior government sources tell CNN that Lanny Brewer, special counsel to the president, will testify before a grand jury on Wednesday
to answer questions under oath as to why there was a delay in getting videotapes of White House coffees to the Justice Department Task Force investigating campaign fundraising.
White House officials say the delay in uncovering the videotapes was an honest mistake, missing them among mounds of requests.
This is not in any respect an incident in which this White House has attempted to slow down the process, fail to respond, or do anything else improper.
Administration officials deny the White House Communications Agency, run by military personnel, deliberately obstructed justice.
This is a pattern of lawyers and others in the White House busting their backs to do the best work they can to try to be responsive.
Yes, we didn't do this. We didn't produce these videotapes on time.
Officials say another search is still being conducted with more videotapes to be released, mainly of DNC fundraisers off of the White House grounds and of so-called political dinners, which some admit are just later coffees.
They will try to locate the materials that are responsive and turn them over.
The President continued with his public demands for campaign finance reform legislation, saying he operated within the law and needs no excuses.
I'm not ashamed of the fact that I did the best I could within the present system. I knew we would be outspent badly in 1996, but we weren't outspent as badly as we would have been if I had laid around and done nothing.
Requesting the special counsel to the President appear before a grand jury shows just how angry Justice Department officials are. Sources there tell CNN the White House version that it tried to reach task force members on Friday but couldn't is misleading at best.
A Justice Department official says one member of the task force tried for 90 minutes to reach the White House counsel and that it was his phone calls that were not returned.
Eileen O'Connor, CNN, The White House.
And despite all the talk about campaign financing, don't look for any quick change in the way politicians and political groups raise their money.
The Senate voted on reforming the system today twice, and as CNN's Brooks Jackson reports, they didn't change anything.
After all the talk, there was no action. Two Senate votes stymied a bill to ban unregulated political donations, and Republican leader Trent Lott said it was dead and good riddance.
We may not like it, but in America you should have a right to say how your monies are used, and you should have the ability to express your position on an issue or on a candidate.
In two procedural votes, the bill's backers mustered first 52, then 53 votes, majorities, but short of the 60 needed to cut off debate and get to a straight up or down vote on the bill.
So is the bill dead or alive? Depends who you ask.
McCain Feingold is dead. This effort to put the government in charge of political discussion in this country is not going to pass now, it's not going to pass tomorrow, it's not going to pass ever.
This legislation is alive, it's well, and it will be back tomorrow, the next day, and for whatever length of time it takes ultimately to pass it.
One sponsor claimed to be within an inch of success.
The level of public concern and pressure on this is at an all time high, and I believe that we are going to be in a very good position the next 48 hours.
Backers of the campaign finance bill promised to keep forcing votes on the measure, proposing it as an amendment to other legislation, including big trade and transportation bills.
The procedural votes show the bill might well pass if the Senate ever voted on it straight up. The big question is, can the Republican leadership continue to block such a straight vote?
Brooks Jackson, CNN, Washington.
In other news today, the U.S. says Iraqi pilots could be shot down for violating no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq.
Pentagon spokesman says Iraqi planes have repeatedly violated the zones in recent days, and U.S. planes patrolling the zones have not responded.
But the U.S. is sending the aircraft carrier Nimitz to the Persian Gulf ahead of schedule.
It is only October, but some folks out west are already seeing some wintry sort of weather.
Ahead of schedule as well, maybe for some people. Karen McGinnis here with the weather tonight. Karen?
Hi, Joey. Hi, Leonia. We've got quite a lot of weather to tell you about. We've got flooding, we've got winds, we've got season-changing weather systems which are plowing in across much of the United States, at least the western half.
In the east, not so. We are still seeing some fairly warm temperatures. Let's take a look at what happened in southern California, though.
We did see a frontal system move through, and here we go, right around San Bernardino. Mud, debris, trees, clogged storm drains, closed streets.
As a matter of fact, it stranded a few teenagers into the area, and we'll have a complete report coming up in just a few minutes.
What about the precipitation? Well, we've still got it across the southwestern United States. It's our weather watch for tonight.
And through sections of Arizona, they did see some problems right around Tucson with some flooding rainfall there.
Also, we are picking up some precipitation right around Santa Fe. Now, just to show you a different perspective, and through Texas, just relentless rainfall.
And now we've got in south central Texas, DeWitt County, Ivaca County, they've got flash flood warnings which have been issued there.
Some rainfall amounts adding up to more than five inches. Well, it's going to be much cooler from Montana all the way down into Arizona and warmer across the upper Mississippi River Valley.
That is out ahead of the weather system. You can see still across the southeast, we're hanging on to 80s, and I'll tell you just how low the snow levels will go coming up in just a few minutes.
Now back to Joey and Leon. All right, thanks Karen. Ahead of the world today, making a mad dash across the border into the U.S. has gotten a bit tougher, at least in one place.
Also, had a quiet community comes to terms with a tragedy and a new shock as well.
Owen Moore works at the Liberty Mutual Research Center.
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On television, burden approved with Roger Kosak and Greta Van Susteren.
It's a court date you wouldn't want to miss on CNN.
TBS Destination Sunday. Sunday on the Superstation. Join Lauren Hutton as she guides two young boys on an unforgettable African safari.
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It's been nearly a week since a teenager allegedly fired on classmates at a Mississippi high school.
Authorities are now investigating whether he acted alone or whether he was part of a conspiracy. CNN's Alan Duke reports.
The arrest of six teenagers on murder conspiracy charges is a strange twist in the shooting spree last weekend at Pearl High School.
One of the suspects is an 18-year-old college student. The others were enrolled in Pearl High.
Police removed three of them from class Tuesday, placing them under arrest.
Pearl Police Chief Bill Slade would not say what led to the arrest or how they were involved in a murder conspiracy,
other than to confirm the charges are related to the shooting spree.
I'm not going to get into the details of the investigations. That's all I can say at this time.
Last Wednesday, when the killings took place, it seemed only one person was behind them.
16-year-old Luke Woodham allegedly stabbed his mother to death and drove to the school, pulling a rifle from under his trench coat and opening fire.
His 16-year-old ex-girlfriend and a 17-year-old student were killed. Seven others were wounded.
A close friend of Woodham told police Woodham gave him a note before the shooting in which he allegedly claimed that he planned the killings.
The note read, I am not insane. I am angry. I killed because people like me are mistreated every day.
I did this to show society. Push us and we will push back.
Soon after the shooting, Chief Slade said he wanted to know why Woodham's friend did not warn anyone.
We've got to talk to him. We've got to ask him exactly what happened. Get the chain of events down.
That student is one of those arrested this week.
None of the 16 spoke when they appeared before a Pearl Municipal Judge Tuesday afternoon, but their lawyers entered innocent pleas for them.
Investigators first thought the killing plea was the work of one student, a loner, angry about being teased and upset because his girlfriend broke up with him.
Now they call it a conspiracy, one they haven't yet explained.
Alan Duke, CNN reporting.
Lawyers continue to question potential jurors for the trial of Oklahoma City bombing suspect Terry Nichols.
So far, 39 people have been questioned.
The court is hoping to qualify a total of 64, from which the final panel of 12 jurors and six alternates will be chosen.
However, many of those questioned are being excused for various reasons.
The process is expected to take several more weeks.
Out West, evacuations have been ordered in Southern California where heavy rain has caused flooding and mudslides.
But the trouble actually began months ago, CNN's Ann McDermott explains.
There were a lot of fires in the hills of County this summer, and Tuesday when the rains came, with the bushes and vegetation burned away, a lot of those hillsides came down.
Into the streets, into some homes, into the pools.
Yes, that is a pool full of mud.
The handful of homeowners who were affected did have some warning.
Because of all the debris jamming up this nearby channel, debris that forced water and mud to head for the homes, homeowners could actually hear the mud on the move.
It was like an earthquake to start out with.
And more water and muck swamped this apartment complex parking lot, turning it into a sort of muddy marina and forcing the evacuation of 35 people there.
Meanwhile, the slippery hillsides temporarily trapped four youngsters who were caught in the rain while camping nearby.
One was slightly injured when a rock hit his hip, but after a slippery and daring rescue in high wind and rain, all were safe and back with their parents.
Ann McDermott, CNN, Los Angeles.
Coming up, are you in the market for some new wheels? Well, stick around. We've got to look at some of the latest models coming up.
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Tonight, a CNN special report. Is democracy for sale?
Are politicians trading your vote for big buck donations, rewarding their largest contributors with access in perks?
The investigations have rocked Washington.
But to the public, it may seem like politics as usual.
In a two-hour special, CNN's team of correspondents and analysts puts the controversy in perspective.
Is America's political system corrupted by cash?
Cash, the money trail. Tonight on CNN.
It is perhaps our most impressive safety advance ever. A Volvo that can save their soul.
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Hello everyone, Karen McGinnis, CNN weather. What you're looking at is our latest hurricane.
In the Pacific. And it looks like it's just kind of drifting a bit towards the northwest.
And could be bumping into the southwestern quadrant.
We could see quite a bit of rainfall associated with this.
And already the winds really soared.
Yesterday we were looking at winds just at minimal hurricane intensity.
But right now they're up around 120 miles an hour.
Well, let's bring you a bit closer to home and look at what happens in our Wednesday morning forecast.
It is going to be windy in the southwestern United States.
We've got some wind gusts perhaps as high as 40 miles an hour gusting through this region.
Well, here's one frontal boundary.
We're actually picking up a secondary round of moisture running across Texas and up towards the Great Lakes region that is currently at this hour.
But look at the east. It's very pleasant in through this region.
So we're going to put this into motion, take you through Thursday morning.
This is our really big storm system in the Pacific Northwest from Washington into Oregon.
Northern California. It looks like the northern Sea of Nevada could see snow levels down to around 5 or 6,000 feet.
Through the Cascades you're looking at about 3 or 4,000 feet there.
Looks like across the headlands and in the coastal regions of Washington and Oregon you could see 75 mile an hour wind gusts.
So the coolest readings across the west milder towards the east.
A terrific day across much of the eastern seaboard.
But we are going to see those readings cool down from Montana all the way into Arizona as much as 15 degrees cool.
It's going to be windy.
And in the mountains just to the north of Flagstaff they saw a little bit of snowfall.
So yeah, that's the kind of weather we're looking at right now.
How about these high temperatures still keeping mild readings across the southeast, 40s and 50s in the northwest.
And for Texas, keep the umbrellas handy. More rain already in Houston.
They've seen 2 and a half inches.
Now look at these 3-day forecast for these cities.
Still some rather fierce weather to report across Alaska.
The temperatures have dropped dramatically over the last few days.
But in sharp contrast to that for Hilo expect about 84 degrees.
Some afternoon cloud cover develops across sections of the Caribbean and look for about 88 in San Juan.
The World Today continues now with Leon.
Alright, thanks Karen. See you in a bit.
Now whether you're looking for a station wagon or a sedan, there's little something for everyone among the 1998 models coming out of Detroit and elsewhere.
Our Motor City Bureau Chief Ed Garston takes a look.
A brute ute, the handsome escort. A minivan from Japan. A Benz with bounce. A Seville that's been barbered. A vet with a view. The Beatles come back.
Whoa, let's put them in reverse. Give them the once over. Slower.
Well here's the brute ute, the new Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle.
Chuck Mazury didn't wait long to sign on the dotted line and this one's going home with him.
It offered for me for the size, the additional wheelbase and functionality that I was looking for.
At a base price of about $27,000, the Durango fits between the Ford Explorer and Chevy Suburban.
For about $10,000 more you can get behind the wheel of a new SUV from Mercedes-Benz. A mix of luxury, value and toughness.
You get in that thing and you drive it on the road and you think it's a Mercedes sedan.
You get in that thing and drive it off the road and think you're in the world's best mountain climbing ditch surviving vehicle.
Japanese automaker Toyota is building its new minivan, the Sienna, in the United States, but it still has those distinctive Toyota features.
It has all of the things that you need, all the doors that you can possibly put on a minivan plus its walk through.
It should be a first really competitive Japanese minivan.
The Sienna starts at just over $21,000 but can balloon to over $27,000 with extras.
Well talk about extras. At $40,000 to $50,000 the re-quaf Cadillac Seville sports them all.
From a 425 watt Bose sound system to a powerful North Star engine to a super squishy seat.
We have ten computer controlled air cells actually in the seat and they, with sensors, measure body pressure.
A couple of cars with new bodies include the restyled Chrysler LH line and the sporty Escort ZX2. It carries a sticker of just over $16,000.
I think it's beautiful. I think this is a good car. I think it's very beautiful.
$46,000 buys the rag top version of the new Le Corvette. About $21,000 takes home the nifty Volkswagen Passat.
It's a very comfortable car. It's very roomy. It's commodious. It has a lot of amenities.
And finally, Beetlemania makes a comeback. These are sneak peek photos from VW of the long lamented Beetle due out next year.
It's pretty high tech and it's moderately expensive.
And while a lot of these new models look like they'll be hot sellers, sales overall, well, they weren't so hot.
And that's good news for consumers because for the most part, the auto companies are holding the line on 1998 pricing and offering some enticing rebates.
So it's an economical time to cruise the showrooms and strike a deal on a new set of wheels.
Ed Garston, CNN Detroit.
Also on the issue of prices, get ready for sticker shock the next time you use a pay phone.
New rules deregulating their rates have just gone into effect. And now, get this, providers can charge whatever they want for local calls.
The government insists that competition will keep rates in check, but consumer groups warn the average 25 cent call could jump by at least a dime.
Well, at least unlike the cars, a phone won't cost you 20 grand.
Well, for now.
Every car's 20 grand there. Good grief.
All right, well the world today returns after this break, coloring the congregation with the shades of a rainbow.
We'll look at acts of faith and renewed hopes to desegregate houses of worship.
And next, if you build it, they will find a less secure place to go around it.
Why success in the U.S. border war doesn't come without its own problems.
We are planning on an on-time arrival to Tokyo.
Northwest flight 87.
Noddystone 387.
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The Sports News Network, 11 Eastern, tonight on CNN
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Crossfire, weeknights, 730 Eastern, on CNN
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For the past three years, federal agents along the border
between Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego
have been cracking down on illegal immigrants
The strategy called Operation Gatekeeper works so well
authorities now want to expand its reach
Here's CNN's Greg Lamont
Hey, come on!
Here's something you don't often see
Up close and personal with a group of illegals
who have just crossed the border into the United States
They say they will be in Los Angeles in a matter of hours
When they get to Los Angeles, what do they do?
When they get to Los Angeles, where do they go?
We look for someone who will give us a chance to live
so we can earn some money, rent a house, I don't know
Well, it is certainly unusual to get this close
Nothing is unusual about the frequency with which they enter the country illegally
It is estimated more than a million people a year sneak into the U.S. from Mexico
A million a year
They do it because they are hungry
To earn money
In Mexico, the pay is very low
It is not enough to eat in Mexico
You in the United States, you earn a little more
For years, efforts to curtail the flow of illegal immigration was all but a failure
On a routine basis, packs of people would simply run across the border untouched
Border patrol agents were being overrun, as were local neighborhoods
Was it scary for you?
Yes, it was scary
We know that people don't want to make trouble with the neighbors
But sometimes it was scary
But three years ago, Operation Gatekeeper got underway along San Diego's border with Tijuana, Mexico
A 14-mile fence, twice as many border patrol agents, better technology
And consequently, safer neighborhoods
There has been a significant difference
It is a very calm and tranquil area
We have a border that is marked, a border that is lit, a border that is under control for the first time in American history
Claiming victory in San Diego, war has now been declared to the east in El Centro, California
On the other side of the border, Mexicali, Mexico
Smugglers are trying to relocate their operations there
They simply can't cross anymore in the San Diego area
So it's time to respond in El Centro and push back that smuggling traffic
This area down here is quite active
Two years ago in 1995, agents arrested 36,000 illegals in the El Centro area
This year alone, this fiscal year which ended last month, we apprehended 146,000
So it's a significant increase
In the middle of the day, farmer John Kubler says illegals can be seen running through his grass fields
We're probably one of the main thoroughfares, not only for illegal people, but for drugs as well
But the drugs, like the illegals, doesn't stay here, it moves on to the bigger markets
But with more technology on the way and more troops, the Border Patrol hopes to duplicate in El Centro what it has accomplished in San Diego
It does not, however, mean that the flow of illegals into this country will be stopped
First, the hunger must stop
We will force ourselves to go through, no matter what
Greg Lamott, CNN, El Centro, California
All across the nation tonight you can see people going up to their attics and getting out their skis
Because the snow is already falling
Karen's using that S-word again, and that one of our favorite ones, Karen
Yeah, as a matter of fact, we've got proof, we've got some pictures right around Stevens Pass in Washington
Just a little bit, not too much, but it is coming down around 4,000 feet
That's just about where we're predicting it
This next weather system that's coming through is a big one
In coastal sections, it's not the snow you have to worry about, it's the rainfall, it's going to be heavy at times
And on top of that, the winds are going to be fierce, as high as 75 miles an hour
You may see that comma-shaped cloud up there near British Columbia just to the south of the Gulf of Alaska
That's our big storm system about to push on through
And in Tucson at this hour, it's 67 degrees, 67 in the desert
Well, they did see a little bit of snowfall just to the north of Flagstaff
And in New York City, it's 70 degrees, so we think it would be the other way around
Here's our forecast, got a weather system pushing across the plains, dropping temperatures behind the front, it's going to be breezy
Tucson, Phoenix, Denver, much cooler, and our strong Pacific storm system moves onshore
Even into the northern Sierra Nevada, you're looking at a bit of snowfall there
So perhaps we'll have a few more pictures coming up for you, perhaps for tomorrow evening
Now back to Joe