Is the fight going out of the battle against AIDS? President Clinton's advisors let him know and they don't pull any punches.
Republicans attack the Attorney General and cozy up to the head of the FBI.
And the Vice President hopes the world warms up to American proposals on global warming.
From Atlanta, this is CNN Headline News. I'm Denise Dillon.
An AIDS panel handpicked by President Clinton issued a report card Sunday grading his efforts in the fight against the disease.
It was far from straight AIDS.
While the AIDS death rate in the United States has dropped recently, the number of infections is up 11% this year. Keoko Altman reports.
The Clinton Administration's effort to fight the AIDS virus is drawing sharp criticism from an unlikely source.
The President's own AIDS advisors.
Very difficult decisions are being stalled and those decisions need to be made.
In a report released Sunday, the President's advisory council on HIV and AIDS faults him for failing to make politically tough decisions they say could help prevent the disease.
A key complaint, the Administration has failed to provide enough expensive AIDS fighting drugs to HIV positive individuals, particularly among the poor.
The report also condemns the Administration for refusing to fund needle exchange programs for drug addicts.
We know that needle exchange saves lives and thank goodness doesn't increase drug use.
And if you know those two things and half the people that are getting infected are getting with a dirty needle, it's time we address this if we really want to end this epidemic.
Sound advice says the Human Rights Campaign, a national lesbian and gay organization.
We ask that the President heed his own advisory council, which has called on him to be bold and to express incredible leadership.
The Administration contends it's doing its best in the face of an overwhelming challenge.
This epidemic is gigantic and it's racing ahead of us and no matter how much we do or how hard we try, it's never going to be enough.
Some advisors say they're prepared to resign if the President doesn't adopt their recommendations soon.
What we're all committed to is doing whatever it's going to take to accomplish what we need to accomplish and I'm very open to resigning if that's going to be an effective tool for doing it.
The advisory panel gives Mr. Clinton credit for being the first President to take serious action against AIDS, but say most of that progress came during his first term.
They hope this report will push him to do more.
Kyoko Altman, CNN, The White House.
Congressional Republicans are still venting their anger at Attorney General Janet Reno.
They sent a congressional subpoena demanding a key memo she received from FBI Director Louis Free.
In it, Free disagrees with Reno's decision to not ask for an independent counsel to investigate White House campaign fundraising.
Both Reno and Free have resisted giving the memo to Congress.
House Chairman Dan Burton says Reno could be held in contempt of Congress unless she turns it over.
Reno says doing so could hurt the Justice Department investigation because the White House isn't out of the woods yet.
We have not closed this investigation in any way.
It continues. It continues vigorously with over 120 agents and prosecutors involved across the country.
No one has been exonerated and I think it is important to make that message clear to everyone.
We've not closed this investigation.
All we've done is make a decision that the independent counsel statute has not been triggered with respect to a specific factual situation.
If the congressmen are cleared for top secret, we're not going to reveal any information that shouldn't be revealed, number one.
Number two, if it's information that was before the grand jury, they can redact it or line that out so we don't even see it.
So the fact of the matter is we have a major problem here between the Attorney General and the FBI Director.
For the first time in my recollection, maybe in history, he thinks that we need to have an independent counsel. She doesn't.
The Justice Department reportedly has given an ultimatum to former Democratic fundraiser Charlie Tree.
U.S. News and World Report says the agency told Tree he can either accept a plea bargain or be indicted.
Tree is suspected of funneling illegal international donations to the DNC. The Democratic Party returned the funds.
Former Joint Chiefs Chairman John Chalukashvili reportedly scrapped a plan in 1994 to search for a missing Gulf War veteran in Iraq.
Some senior officers believe Navy Lieutenant Commander Michael Spiker could have survived the 1991 crash of his plane.
But Chalukashvili tells the New York Times the risks of secretly searching for him three years later outweighed the possible rewards.
Spiker, as classified as killed in action, is the only American to die in the Gulf War whose remains were not recovered.
A huge file of facts is now available to the public about the crash of TWA Flight 800. 230 people were killed when the Jetliner's center fuel tank exploded last year.
The National Transportation Safety Board will open public hearings on the crash Monday.
The board has released large amounts of information about its investigation on CD-ROM and on the Internet.
You can look it up at www.ntsb.gov or check out the CNN interactive website at cnn.com.
Rescue workers say they are losing hope of finding any more survivors after Saturday's cargo plane crash in Russia.
62 people are confirmed dead, and that number could rise because of casualties on the ground.
Safety officials are still baffled by the crash. They're investigating several scenarios.
Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin toured the crash site Sunday. He and President Boris Yeltsin are promising aid and new homes for the victims.
The woman who was charged with cutting off her husband's penis faces charges of assaulting her mother.
Virginia police say the former Mrs. John Bobbitt, Lorraine Gallo, began hitting her mother while she was watching TV Friday.
They say the older woman suffered only minor injuries.
In 1994, Gallo claimed years of sexual abuse drove her to attack her then-husband with a kitchen knife.
She was tried for malicious wounding and found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Former Golden State warrior Littrell Spreewell may soon offer a public apology.
That's the opinion of Bill Hunter, the executive director of the NBA Players Association.
Spreewell's $32 million contract was terminated and he was suspended from the league for a year
after he grabbed and threatened his coach. Hunter calls the punishment excessive.
I was an athlete and I admired the likes of people like Jim Brown and others,
but my mother and father imbued certain things in me, certain conduct that I knew that things I wasn't supposed to do.
And while I liked those athletes and looked up to them, they didn't encourage me to do anything.
And so I think that one, while we have an obligation, I don't think that the obligation should be showed solely by professional athletes.
Hunter accuses the NBA of posturing in the case to try to weaken the players' union.
Half the dose of estrogen, usually given to women after menopause, may be enough.
Researchers found the lower dosage is just as effective in treating osteoporosis and causes fewer side effects.
Many women don't take estrogen because it may increase the risk of breast cancer and can cause headaches and nausea.
The lower dose may also help reduce the risk of heart disease.
Coming up in a moment, it's north versus south in the debate over who's doing the worst damage to the world.
First, though, the national weather forecast.
At the CNN Weather Center, I'm Byron Miranda with the CNN headline news weather update.
Snow and lots of it for the southwest. Winter storm watches and warnings for the mountains there.
West Coast, rain will stop in southern California towards northern California.
The northwest will see some showers through Monday evening. Seattle and Portland in mind is what I'm trying to say.
The southern section of the U.S., relatively quiet, but rain showers and a mixture of rain, sleet and snow possible through parts of the Tennessee Valley through the Mississippi Valley during the morning hours on Monday.
Temperature-wise across the nation, 20s up north. It is almost winter. It should be that cool.
50s and 60s down through Florida. Kind of cool for Florida, though.
I know folks in Miami would like to see some warmer temperatures.
The forecast looks like this. The rain will stop out west, but a mixture of rain, sleet and snow possible through the midsection.
Snow up in the northeast where the cooler temperatures are on Tuesday.
80s starting to rebound into Florida. There you go, Miami. It's going to start to get warmer for you. That's good news.
Wednesday, still cool up north and more rain and a mixture of rain, sleet and snow possible for the mid-Atlantic.
That's a look at your CNN headline news weather.
Vice President Gore says the United States will not promise what it cannot do to combat global warming.
He spoke with the International Climate Conference in Kyoto, Japan.
Leaders from 150 nations are there working to reduce levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
Gore told the delegates that the United States remains committed to reaching an agreement on emissions targets.
After talking with our negotiators this morning and after speaking on the telephone from here a short time ago with President Clinton,
I am instructing our delegation right now to show increased negotiating flexibility if a comprehensive plan can be put in place,
one with realistic targets and timetables, market mechanisms and the meaningful participation of key developing countries.
The International Climate Conference in Japan is shedding light on the enormous variety of environmental threats in the world.
The debate over who is to blame is dividing the planet in half. Richard Blystone explains.
The world's most popular fuel doesn't come from oil wells. It is scavenged from shrinking forests and carried off and for miles.
It doesn't burn very efficiently.
Sometimes in poor countries fires go out of control and the black tide of smoke floods the whole region.
But for global warming that's a drop in the bucket compared to this.
The majority of the blame has to be on the industrialized world, on the US, Europe and Japan.
Because we produce about two thirds of all the greenhouse gas pollution that's currently emitted in the world.
And within the industrial world fingers point at the United States.
It's the world's most wasteful user of energy. It has nothing like the population of Europe but it uses twice the energy.
It doesn't get twice the gross national product, it doesn't get twice the advantages, it just wastes.
The North has developed, it's had the benefits of fossil fuels, but at the moment key countries like the United States are refusing to take the action and show leadership.
If the whole South went at the pace set for it by the North, the broad consensus of environmentalists is catastrophe.
If they are right the poor might feel it first but not alone.
A big enough rise in the ocean would swallow tropical islands but would it spare New York and the Netherlands?
If the climate changed people who depend on plants for a living would be the first to see them shrivel.
But who of us is not dependent on plants?
Those who live close to nature would feel the heat or the cold first but the cities of the rich would find it harder to adapt.
If it happens, even for the rich, there will be no buying our way out of it. If it happens, it will happen to all of us.
Richard Blystone, CNN, London.
The top stories are two minutes away and ahead in lifestyles. We'll remember the last trip from Earth to the Moon.
This is the CNN Headline News Network.
Why in the world is Pacific Power spending time in your backyard?
We're committed to the global environment and that commitment starts here in our own backyard.
Since 1993, our Green Core program has brought together employees and other volunteers throughout our communities
to plant trees, restore wildlife habitat, and educate others about the environment.
And that's not only good news for the customers of Pacific Power, it's good news for the entire planet.
What's your love gift to me? What diamond ring?
Here's the season for gorgeous gifts from Crescent Jewelers like our stunning one-carat star bright diamond ring just $249.
So for the perfect gift, think Crescent, your best choice.
The tire for the 21st century is here. Z800 Ultra, the 100,000-mile tire at an 80,000-mile price.
All part of the Lesquad Fall Tire Sale Kickoff, featuring great buys on passenger tires.
$15.99, $22.99, $25.99. In performance tires, sale prices on Grand Am, Proxxas FC 4 and H4.
Custom wheels on sale, too. Shocks and batteries, a great lineup.
On sale, the fall season of Lesquad. It's the season to save.
Bill's interfering with your reception? Here's another Money Tree Cash Solution.
If you're running short on cash, come to Money Tree and get a payday loan up to $500.
Money Tree, your cash solution. We also cash all types of checks, handled Western Union, and money orders.
Find your cash solution at one of these Money Tree locations.
The Ellensburg Youth Ballet, co-sponsored by the CWU Department of Theater Arts, will present
The Nutcracker with three performances. 7.30 p.m. on Friday, December 12th and Saturday, December 13th,
plus a matinee at 2.30 on Sunday, December 14th. All performances will be held in McConnell Auditorium.
Advanced tickets are available at Ellensburg, at Shapiro's, Downtown Pharmacy, and Perry's.
Cast includes principal dancers Julie Tobiasen and Maynard Stewart,
both of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. The ballet is under the direction of Christine Ziegler.
Start your holiday season with this spectacular event.
Excuse me, are you Santa Claus? If you are him, here's my list.
Help the Marines make Christmas possible for less fortunate children.
Donate a new toy to Toys for Tots.
Checking our top stories, a Presidential AIDS Advisory Council says the President has let the fight against AIDS stall during his second term.
They issued a report criticizing him for not supporting needle exchange programs and failing to expand Medicaid to cover AIDS-fighting drugs.
Federal investigators are releasing a mountain of information on last year's crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of Long Island.
The information is available on the Internet and CD-ROM.
Vice President Gore says the United States is ready to compromise on efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The European Union, Japan, and other countries want to reduce greenhouse gases more drastically and more quickly than the United States.
We'll have more on those stories in 15 minutes.
Health maintenance organizations are luring customers with more and more tantalizing deals.
However, a consumer health group suggests buyers beware. Al Hinman has that story.
It looked like a deal too good to pass up.
A Los Angeles area health maintenance organization promised to give Livia Nagy greater benefits for her Medicare dollars than traditional fee-for-service Medicare and still let her see the doctors of her choice.
I think that's probably the carrot they were dangling in front of her nose. I think they knew already that they probably aren't going to give her that.
So Mrs. Nagy dropped out of her HMO. Unlike many with private insurance, Medicare recipients have the option of using their benefits to enroll in HMOs.
A new national survey shows a growing number of seniors are walking away from HMOs.
They are obviously far better at marketing and luring people into plans than they are in retaining people and servicing them.
According to a managed care trade group, the vast majority of seniors who switch stick with Medicare HMOs.
Only about 3% of beneficiaries each year choose to leave the HMO program and go back to the traditional Medicare program.
In addition, about 80,000 to 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries are choosing to join HMOs each month.
How are you feeling this afternoon?
Knowing which HMOs are best at taking care of and holding on to their customers could become more important four years from now
when Medicare starts limiting recipients to only one insurance change each year.
Al Hinman, CNN, reporting.
All the NFL score is next in CNN Headline Sports.
This is the CNN Headline News Network.
Look to BiMart's latest coupon book filled with savings and just in time for the holidays.
Enjoy a compact microwave from Samsung.
It's perfect for the countertop and features a turntable for even cooking.
With your BiMart coupon, it's just $69.99.
Save on a 10-pack of TDK videotapes.
Right now, they're only $15.99 with your BiMart coupon.
Shop at BiMart and wrap up incredible holiday savings.
Coupon price is in December 14th.
So stop in and find out why BiMart's not your average drug and discount store.
Mike Proctor is a student at Buckley University, and he's about to become the subject of a remarkable experiment.
He will live inside this small chamber cut off from all human contact.
Alone.
Yo, get a little milk in here.
For the next 30 days.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, I didn't sign up for this.
Guys, I got tons of cereal.
I want some milk.
Fascinating.
Good job, Ringo.
Ready, please?
Got milk.
The tire for the 21st century is here.
Z800 Ultra, the 100,000-mile tire at an 80,000-mile price.
All part of the Lushwabel K-
...kickoff, featuring great buys on passenger tires.
$15.99, $22.99, $25.99.
In performance tires, sale prices on Grand Am, Proxus FC4 and H4.
Custom wheels on sale, too.
Shocks and batteries, a great lineup.
On sale, the fall season of Lushwabel.
It's the season to save.
If you could choose one gift for yourself this year, what would it be?
Well, this year, get exactly what you want.
During the Chevy, make your money count year-end events.
How about a full-size Chevy pickup with low APR financing?
Chevy, the most dependable, longest-lasting trucks on the road.
Now drive away a Chevy CK with low financing.
Check out great offers on other 98 Chevy cars and trucks.
Finally, a gift you'll want to hang on to.
$1.9, right down the road at your Chevrolet Dealers Northwest.
Yakima Valley.
...who scored the game-winning basket in the 1982 NCAA Tournament Final
between North Carolina and Georgetown?
The answer's right after sports.
The Wayne Walker CNN Headline Sports.
Week 15 of the NFL saw San Francisco bounce back from last week's loss
to top Minnesota 28-17.
Steve Young ran for a score and threw for two.
Niners stay a game ahead of Green Bay for home field throughout the playoffs.
The Packers have claimed their third state division title
and a first-round bye after beating Tampa Bay 17-6.
Brett Favre becomes the first quarterback ever
to throw for 30 touchdowns four years running.
Pittsburgh dominated Denver 35-24.
Cordell Stewart rifled three touchdowns to the ante big pin
and ran for two more.
Steelers lead the AFC Central at 10-4.
The Giants took advantage of five Bobby Hoyne turnovers
to knock off the Eagles 31-21.
New York gets sole possession of firsts in the NFC East at 8-5-1.
Say goodbye to Jacksonville's 13-game win streak at home.
It was snap Sunday at the hands of the New England Patriots 26-20.
Drew Bledsoe threw two touchdowns.
The Jets have fallen one game behind New England and the AFC East
by suffering a devastating 22-14 loss to Indianapolis.
New York has lost 15 straight December contests.
The Miami Dolphins leapfrogged one game ahead of the Jets
into a first place tie with New England after a 33-30 victory over Detroit.
Olendo Maadde converted a 42-yard field goal with no ticks left.
Miami improves to 9-5.
All the results, KC shut out Oakland.
Ravens dumped Seattle.
Rams win their fourth game.
Atlantis won 5 of 6.
Skins over Arizona.
Chicago beat Buffalo.
In the NBA, the Raptors continue to reel.
They lost for the 16th straight time, 93-83 to Detroit.
Jerome Williams was high man for the Pistons with 20 points, 11 rebounds.
The 76ers end the three-game losing skid by beating the Knicks 93-78.
Allen Iverson dumped in 27.
Seattle's Vin Baker scored 29 points in his return to Milwaukee,
but the Bucks get the victory 97-91.
The Los Angeles Lakers fell for the first time at home, 94-84 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Wesley Person led all scores with 22.
All the results, Pacers end overtime, Victor.
76ers upset New York.
Clippers and Warriors lose.
One Ice Dave Gagne and Steve Washburn scored two goals apiece.
And Florida's 5-4 win over Washington.
Elsewhere, Edmonton and Chicago tied three-all.
DeWayne Walker, CNN.
Headline Sports.
The game-winning basket in the 1982 NCAA Tournament Final
was made by none other than the legendary Michael Jordan.
This is the CNN Headline News Network.
If you could choose one gift for yourself this year, what would it be?
Well, this year, get exactly what you want.
During the Chevy, make your money count, year-end events.
How about a full-size Chevy pickup with low APR financing?
Chevy, the most dependable, longest-lasting truck's on the road.
Now drive away a Chevy CK with low financing.
Check out great offers on other 98 Chevy cars and trucks.
Finally, a gift you'll want to hang on to.
1.9, right down the road at your Chevrolet Dealers Northwest.
Why in the world is Pacific power spending time in the jungle?
We're committed to the global environment.
That's why we've joined forces with the Nature Conservancy and others
to protect over 2 million acres of Central and South American rainforest.
Since trees absorb carbon dioxide, planting and protecting them helps counteract
CO2 emitted by cars, power plants and industry,
which some scientists believe contributes to global warming.
And that's not only good news for the customers of Pacific power,
it's good news for the entire planet.
The premiere of Steven Spielberg's latest film, Amistad,
is competing for the limelight with another drama.
A judge will hear arguments on whether Spielberg stole the idea for his movie
about a slave revolt from a book by Barbara Chase Rabot.
She wants a $5 million settlement or cancellation of the premiere.
Spielberg's attorneys say the movie is based on a book published 36 years before Chase Rabot's.
The Kennedy Center in Washington has paid tribute to five more legendary artists.
The recipients of this year's Kennedy Center honors are rock poet Bob Dylan,
actor Charlton Heston, screen siren Lauren Bacall, opera diva Jesse Norman
and ballet star Edward Villella.
President Clinton and his wife Hillary greeted the honorees and guests at the White House.
They later attended the gala performance at the Kennedy Center.
Walter Cronkite served as master of ceremonies.
The event will be broadcast December 26th on CBS.
Twenty-five years ago, Apollo 17 lifted off, carrying three astronauts to the moon.
That crew remains the last to have walked on the lunar surface.
John Zarella has a look back.
It was the beginning of the end.
A quarter century ago, at 33 minutes past midnight,
the last Apollo spacecraft to take humans to the moon lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
After coasting in space for three days, Apollo 17 arrived at the Earth's pockmarked neighbor.
Astronaut Ron Evans stayed behind in the command module
as Harrison Schmidt and Gene Cernan descended to the surface.
Cernan and Schmidt, who was the only geologist to go to the moon,
spent more time on the surface than any other crew.
I was strolling on the moon one day in a merry, merry month of December-May.
Besides having fun, the astronauts worked hard in the limited time they had on the moon.
My golly, this time goes fast.
The astronauts spent more than 22 hours outside the lunar lander.
They set up scientific experiments and gathered 250 pounds of lunar materials for the return trip.
Man, that is hard. Just don't stub your toe.
I best describe having been there as being in a place where reality is almost like a dream.
Even today, the reality of having called the moon my home sometimes is almost like a dream.
I've been there. I know I've been there. I can take myself back instantaneously to that valley.
Cernan delivered a poignant final message before leaving the surface.
I'd like to just let what I believe history will record that American challenge of today
has forged man's destiny of tomorrow.
On December 14th, Cernan and Schmidt returned to the command module circling above them.
Neither ever imagined that 25 years later they would still be known as the last men on the moon.
John Zarella, CNN, reporting.
Coming up in two minutes, what President Clinton's advisors are thinking about the way he commands the war on A's
and the newest thinking about the oldest way to feed a baby.
First, though, a look at the spectacular holiday celebration in colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.
I'm Denise Dillon. This is CNN Headline News.