The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour

the police it's been that evening leading the news this thursday the us economy grew more slowly than expected the first three months of the year jim wright was reported considering resigning as house speaker whether or not ethics charges are dropped hartline chinese premier li peng resurfaced in beijing amid reports that more troops were arriving we'll have details in our news summary and along judy woodruff is in washington tonight after the news summary we go first in the gym right story and the roger mudd update on the embattled house speaker next kwame home and reports on the scandal that enveloped the

federal housing subsidy program then the viewers of one chinese community in the us on the recent turmoil in their native land and finally joy anna simon takes us backstage with opera star jose carreras who has battled cancer and is now making a comeback everything everything everything additional funding is provided by the john d and catherine t macarthur foundation a catalyst for change and the station and other public television stations and the corporation for public broadcasting the american economy grew more slowly than expected in the first three months of nineteen eighty nine the commerce department reported that the gross national product increased in those months by four point three percent well below its first estimate of five point five percent

the growth rate was much slower still when the effects of a rebound from last summer's drought or subtract it that left gnp growth at one point eight percent commerce secretary robert mosbacher said the efforts of the federal reserve board to fight inflation by slowing growth appeared to be having the desired effect also in economic news the bush administration has decided to cite several trading partners for unfair trade practices in a statement this evening us trade representative karla hills were singling out japan brazil and india for criticism it is the hardest line the administration could take under new trade legislation former housing secretary samuel pierce today defended his role and a federal subsidy program that has come under investigation for favoring selected republicans peers appear before members of the house government operations subcommittee and it was sometimes heated exchange with democratic representative barney frank of

massachusetts particularly when peers tried to suggest an inspector general's report failed to show that it wasn't only republicans who receive subsidies for rehabilitating some privately owned low income housing projects it was saying here that the inspector general the connected to talk about democrats who were also there i wanna know doesn't that mean that you think the report was incomplete and given fairly partisan view the ig report i'm saying exactly what i said there's nothing in there about democrats or even indicate whether there was anything when there's not anything away look to see or what we didn't i wanna know whether he did or not you know i mean that like be irresponsible saying you know that's my statement yeah i have been working on when you go back and you say i remember going up to see if there were democrats and that's what i say piers defended the housing department's decisions towards subsidies to selected developers by

pointing out that congress had earlier away and requirements that specified a fairer allocation of government assistance we'll have more on the howard story later in the news now do right was reported today that would all but decided to resign as house speaker regardless of whether ethics charges against him are dropped the associated press quoted congressional leadership sources as saying the speaker remain torn over details of his leaving i said plans were being made for a resignation speech before the house next wednesday right renee and secluded in his office today it issued a statement saying he would make no deals with the ethics committee washington was full of rumors yesterday that right was negotiating to resign if the committee agreed to drop some charges wright's public stance remain tonight that he would press ahead with his defense against the charges that he broke house rules will have more on this later in the program in china are hard liners seem to be in control today in the government while many students and other ordinary citizens continue to defy their orders premier league hung surfaced on

television for the first time in several days and a somewhat cryptic statement said soldiers would be entering the aging as soon as residents realize they are needed to restore order more than a hundred thousand people staged another massive march in beijing china's cabinet ordered local police to adopt forceful measures to prevent any more students from reaching the capital joined the massive sit in at tiananmen square state run radio reported that all but two of china's twenty nine province is backing the marshall your victory the new survey of parliament today elected mikhail gorbachev executive president after an open debate unprecedented since the russian revolution the vote by secret ballot was two thousand one hundred twenty three four eighty seven against we'll report by young lover james of independent television news in moscow there's new soviet parliament made history from the word go packed with control the sea and personal attacks first a

dissident physicist andrei sakharov revenues once landed him in jail but i made it started they were arguing over the rules of those who knew us style president and the soviet union any serious candidate one deputy accused him of how complex like that stun the diabetes but there was more identity from leningrad accused of atrocities in a luxury thatcher by the black sea as grandpa drove up to respond a bully during surgeries but because of fighting speech which of defending himself against the attacks in and argued for combining his role as college president teachers a team of american doctors believe that the soviet army used the world war one vintage gas to call demonstrations in soviet georgia in april the physicians for human rights spent five days in georgia examining records they said that besides the two types of tear gas admitted by the soviets the army also used for

pickling i guess first used in world war one it was used for crowd control in the us that was abandoned because of its toxicity twenty people died in the demonstrations doctor said they did not have conclusive evidence of this in bolivia last night to us mormon missionaries were shot to death as they returned to their home in a poor neighborhood of la paz the capital city today a radical leftist group calling itself the armed forces of liberation claimed responsibility it's members are opposed to any foreign meddling in their country and last year tried to assassinate then secretary of state george shultz when he visited the libya two victims were dead a fight as todd ray wilson and jeffrey wright ball both twenty years old and both from utah and a nicaragua to us diplomats have been expelled for allegedly instigating wildcat strikes by teachers looking for higher pay in

washington the state department had no immediate comment on the expulsion in san bernardino calif a pipeline carrying aviation fuel burst and exploded today killing at least two people and injuring twenty eight the explosion sent fireballs three hundred feet into the air and destroyed thousands of fire occurred where thirteen days ago fifty five cars in a freight train jumped the rails and crashed into a block of houses that accident killed three people some residents had just returned to the repair of homes federal bankruptcy judge in new york today formally approved real estate magnate donald trump's deal to buy eastern allies north the shuttle trump will pay three hundred and sixty five million dollars for the fleet of twenty boeing's seven twenty seven jets which he says he will repay in flashy colors in addition to putting his name on the tail of each plane the sale went through after a higher bid by america west airlines was withdrawn for lack

of adequate financing that wraps up our summary of the day's news just ahead on the newshour speaker jim wright a federal housing subsidy scandal chinese in the us look at events in china and an opera stars battle with cancer first tonight we update the story of how speaker jim wright as we reported congressional sources have told the associated press that the speaker had all but decided to resign next week our congressional correspondent roger mudd traces the latest moves in this rapidly evolving situation when ethics chairman julian dixon emerged last night shortly before it apart from a closed session of his committee he had a brief statement today we have discussed the emotions that we have made no decisions on their motions we have returned and so are ten am june first thursday june first those words brought to a temporary close thirty

six of the most chaotic sadness that debilitating hours in speaker right political career the ethics committee met most of yesterday to discuss the motion made on tuesday by rights lawyer steven says the main charges of ethical violations against him be dropped on grounds that while he may have gone postal alive he never actually crossed the line yesterday morning both chairman dick's writing republican john myers of indiana they seem to be sending signals to speaker ryan but while it would take a look at the motion when they have not been particularly impressed by susskind arguments made these are not new concept obviously members of this committee have discussed entertain those issues before that according to the rules will have a responsibility to once again has judges based on their motions once again evaluate i must say to my mind what's changed our terrace martin it's a lot of my respondents

council's well as the independent counsel at the committee that causes more inquiry there was a direct spin on some of these two she was on this committee that we were a party to a political than that of that we're getting a foundation for what about the best literature <unk> the right thing speaker right and his people got the message quickly enough the ethics committee was not about to back down one of his lawyers clark clifford reportedly told the speaker to resign quickly and with dignity the house republican leader bob michel martin's series by workers because business soldier right through his legal advisor steven sussman congressman robert torricelli of new jersey and attorney william old actor reportedly offered

to resign the speakership and presumably his house eat also if the ethics committee would drop the charge against him that he accused his public office for private gain such a deal would presumably preserve rights name an honor and just as importantly save his wife betty from having to undergo a public and perhaps humiliating cross examination on whether in fact she had her under pay but the committee refused the deal republican john myers said i do not think it behooves a member of congress or is appropriate for a member of the committee on ethics to make deals during the past seventy two hours since the ethics committee convened in public on tuesday morning speaker right not only one even halfway piece of good news it came late on tuesday one republican charles push a hint of california people who had voted against the speaker on every count promised a fresh look at the case if this committee should go

to a disciplinary hearing that i'm going to take a fresh look at this case i'm going to do my best and it has not been made easy by what i would call these premature calls on the part of the speaker but from there it seems all downhill for speaker ryan he had to know that two of the committee's democrats just dragons of massachusetts amber barbed wire of new jersey might be convinced to sweat and voltage on the charge writes for our friend george mallory have a direct interest in legislation during the time right and his wife were the recipients of knowledge generosity but adkins line of questioning to sussman gave them no encourage acts and i'd like you to do to respond to these the first is the a study just malik george malick did the task force on the savings and loan crisis the task force i think was when that

was widely known as hill that indeed had a significant influence on the course of that legislation in june and george malik was not as you suggest someone who was selected for his neutrality for his non interest indeed he was someone who won an almost daily basis was involved with the savings and loan industry jordan alex anderson that report was an interesting reporting accurately what people were telling him that's what he was charged but they do go interview much people tell me what they are telling me that to the extent that he had an interest in reporting accurately hear an interesting point actually i don't think we think is an interest in the subject matter of when he's reporting so it was not a good day for the speaker and when he left the capital body they seem to be indicating that he had finally seen the writing on the wall of the house if i thought that i can be effective as a certain no a

lobbyist baker i want to be to be an effective personnel america and i've had that privilege and i'm grateful for the things that most of my good name and that of my family my wife and my colleague down to reflect on our own credit on this incident the house is now in recess until next week all the principles of scattered for the holiday inn it now appears that the speaker will go before the house democratic caucus next wednesday and announced his decision to resign even before the ethics committee reassembled on thursday that's pretty certain roger is it well it's a certain setting can be if i had a hundred dollars i would probably vote ninety nine fifty of the money will all blow roben the speaker's office this evening again said that the speaker had no intention of resigning and why wait until next week and prolong the agony well number one i think he wants to go out with some

dignity doesn't wanna sleep away on a holiday afternoon and it was to do it though according to his own lights in addition mr foley who is his presumed successor is not in town is out in washington state attending the funeral of the late senator or magnusson but more than that person to president bush is leaving tomorrow for seven nature broad speaker right place you know is the number three in line to the presidency and to have resigned a day or even before literally comes back in town would leave that they can see the wire right his statement today said no deal if there's nothing to be gained from other words by making a deal why not tough it out well the only way the charges will now be dropped it seems to everyone here is for the speaker to resign if you were if he does not resign the committee is almost a mandated by by its current position to go on to a disciplinary hearing there are no indications that the committee is going to back down now so if the speaker does not resign

he faces a disciplinary hearing and he faces the prospect of as i mentioned in the piece of his wife having to be cross examined and three in effect to go through paper a procedure that will not bring much luster to his good night if it and if he resigns the charges are dropped and i they in that the investigation does not continue if he resigns from the house the charges are dropped if he resigns as speaker but remains a member of the house of representatives a member of the texas delegation the chargers remain in place and the committee is required to continue with the process to stop everything in its tracks he must leave the house so in effect it is a kind of bargain there i'll resign and the charges were dropped right so they weren't they wouldn't be worked through to an actual trial with evidence presented in a vote and everything that's correct and there's no well that reading reading on the surface there would be a deal but both sides insist there is no deal on the committee itself says that it doesn't

want to be a part of a deal well i want to ask about that why is the committee's so resistant to a deal when princes and criminal law is done all the time in terms of plea bargaining and in this case it would allow the thing to end with dignity and in a humane manner why are they so resistant to india well you know the reputation of the ethics committee itself is as important as jim wright's reputation ethics committee over the years found that after the explosion but adam clayton powell has not had a sterling record it is always been under fire for not being tough enough and for these members use twelve members many of them appointed by the speaker too engaged now in a deal would bring according to the member's some discredit on the committee so that committee is not only trying to fulfill its obligations also try to protect its own reputation and the democratic party itself it needs some good performance under pressure on the ethics issue because it's lost control in the last six months you

say that is probable successor is the majority leader tom foley there would be no competition for the journey i think not i think not robin i think he is at his abuse issue in a walk off and what about the job that he now holds the job of majority leader it would be it would be at a competitive wanted if baba presuming that the congressman tony coelho from california does not decide to try for it there is some small dark cloud no bigger than your hand over his head involving an ethical issue but presuming that day he goes for majority leader he would probably be uncontested that will be his job open for all for a wide open race and that would involve a congressman grave philadelphia congressman bonier michigan congressman anthony of arkansas all mr jenkins of love of georgia and of course a front runner would be a congressman get part of missouri or what so if speaker writer actually goes and tom foley replaces him what is the

political impact of that and on the working of the house well that the house for the last five or six months really and precisely for the last of forty fifty days has been frozen in place fascinated by this drama afraid to move freight to convict ships to a speaker that no one is sure will be there it would unlock everything and presumably if the bush administration begins to send legislation to the hill or would be some action on that it would really from the democratic members of the house an enormous burden the two have been carrying over the last thirty or sixty days as speaker right on their shoulders regiment thank you very much for joining still ahead on the newshour a federal housing subsidy scandal a community of chinese in the us have used events in china and opera singer jose carreras battle with cancer we go next tonight the allegations of scandal in the reagan

administration's department of housing and urban development a house subcommittee hold hearings today on charges the agency allowed favoritism insider information and political influence peddling to affect the funding decisions of one of its housing rehabilitation programs kwame home and reports lynn wars were strict new appliances install new roofs from the buildings the money that helped finance the renovation came through a federal subsidy called a section eight modern rehabilitation program last month a federal housing department investigated charged former government officials use their influence to when renovation funds for this and dozens of other projects across the country applications pushed and lubricated by politically well connected coat consultants and quote

received the lion's share of these increasingly scarce funds consultants received mindboggling really exorbitant fees for fleeting services of dubious legality when faced with a decision now i've seen a lot of stuff that stinks but been able so no regulations were broken no laws were broken but in fact a lot of stuff happen that wasn't right and congress members from both parties same horse for years under housing secretary samuel pierce renovation program was a disgrace this is an absolutely the worst an attempt of camouflage transactions of dubious propriety and florida thinks the decision makers of hard to appear to have carried paperwork reduction to the extreme

there are practically no reports or how decisions were made involving hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money was little if any documentation available inspector general paul adams supervise the audit report the cause mr in congress he says it appeared housing funds were steered to former reagan administration officials and friends that that he was unable to find a conclusive proof most of what we found was perception or at this point not only violations of the laws as we perceive them we found it during the period nineteen eighty four through may of nineteen eighty eight the government changed drastically to ignore process whereby certain locations in certain individuals had received a disproportionate share of the funds the vans were supposed to finance improvements on apartments like these privately owned units where low income tenants get a federal subsidy to help at all i regulation only local public housing authorities or ph days can

request renovation funds from the federal housing department after receiving the funds the ph days in by developers to bid on the repair work but the inspector general says the process became distorted developers and their consultants came directly to hired to lobby for the rehabilitation funds when the funds were granted public housing authorities passed along the contracts for the politically connected developer i recall a specific example involving a product and no laws wages nevada and which the crew has her party have been contacted by former artificial man who made an overt are concerned about one of a project in a location and recommended that that authorities in an application that i thought it did smell an application this fairmont official course john edwards acorn officials studying that this particular locale the

news is very badly in insider and sixty minutes and america days later that because nobody was oregon and sixty units and that housing authority ultimately the award to the film artificial this wasn't the way public housing authorities were supposed to get these funds are when they did this way they were they just not curious enough for a while probably the public option for a week probably a sign that the thing that humans have been politically care having documents in the process because they are scarce and the number of humans and if they fail to someone might be able to acquire additional units they would be willing to work with abortion according to adams a long list of former hud officials profited by these arrangements by acting as consultants to the developers who won the contract they include a former high ranking special assistant received one

point three million dollars in fees a former hud deputy counsel two hundred eighty two thousand dollars and a former deputy assistant secretary for hundred twenty thousand other prominent republicans also got consulting fees from developers for helping win hud grant former massachusetts senator edward brooke was paid one hundred eighty three thousand dollars and a former nixon attorney general and convicted watergate figure john mitchell seventy five thousand dollars so the housing consultant according to the inspector general's report michel now deceased said he had contacts and hide from the top on down in fact the daughter of mitchell's longtime female companion was pierce's top assistant and was involved in funding the project mitchell consulted are people in washington who live there are but edwards' former interior secretary james

watt's three hundred thousand dollar consulting fees paid by developers for the suburban baltimore project that incensed some members of congress games war so only known experience in housing just that made them be homeless he's not a housing expert and fourteen to use his influence in knowing another former colleague and fellow cabinet member of making a couple of telephone calls and steering funds the project eight because he was hired by project at these at these crates the report makes it sound like i called them up and i said that's jim yet we three hundred yards from the case at all that the farthest thing from the truth developer julian siegel pay part of the three hundred thousand dollar fee james not received after signals was a war at hud money to renovate three hundred apartments at this low income development in essex maryland she says the current inspector general's allegation that she used favoritism and inside information to

win the contract is unfair and they might want to get funded just because like i think i find that because of the excellent paget and hopefully because james not advocate that mr webb hubbell his influence to get this project for him or you know that kind of sexy town and if you want to say that that people in hybrid take this to white phone call a faster than they would take today's phone call of that influence peddling what i i i think now i think influence peddling some who say you do this from the health of this for you you do this in a lot of i can have chickens that influence peddling and that i salute really did not happen i'm concerned that the public perception of favoritism or so great that is jaundiced view of the public about the government and integrity in government programs and if people believe it you must hire a consultant i have some insight

influence to get a government or in the whole system as a foul and that concerns me about the inspector general's report is the implication that developers abused the system didn't abuse the system very useful system the system was that they air it was in place it was created single points out that five years ago funds for these kinds of projects had to be distributed according to geographical area that requirement was removed by congress in nineteen eighty four hud secretary peers that was authorized to use his own discretion in allocating funds for two years ending in nineteen eighty eight responsibility for executing pierce's discretion rested with thomas memory a former assistant secretary for housing kemery says he tried to reform the funding process from within and on to the secretary and explained that i was uncomfortable with being handed a list of pitchers to fund and then being in and funneling them from his

executive assistant and as a result of that meeting the secretary established a selection committee i'm still uncomfortable with that process the secretary was clearly in january that this is a secretarial discretionary funding process period was not delegated by him to me that that but the responsibility rests with him while that's the man you do what he says and that's what it was that mary was assistant secretary he was in charge of this project and if in fact we objected to the decisions made about it he always had the option of resign he chose not to do that the report by the inspector general also charges that dam or his favorite charity that large contributions from some of the developers who got rehabilitation awards i do find it was like that a whole slew of people dealing with housing and urban development suddenly discover a passion for the favorite charity or a high ranking official

to infer that somehow their motivation out of the goodness of their heart to have to have a work that is doing great things to reverse the if the devastation of famine drought in mozambique was somehow linked to my job is is absurd and i resent it strongly in all about inspector general focused on fifty eight renovation contracts in addition to applaud the selection process he alleges developers inflated renovation costs resulting in bigger profits and tax credits for the developer the inspector general says government overpayments he uncovered would cost fifty eight million dollars over the lives of the renovation contract if that same rate of the overpayments that says among other contracts now being audited the figure could be more than four hundred million for his part current housing secretary jack kemp suspended all funding of

the rehabilitation program and ordered the investigation into other contracts to continue searches on capital hill three separate committees are investigating the allegations this morning congressman lantos subcommittee heard for the first time from the person who have the ultimate responsibility for the program former hud secretary samuel fear flight those as here's why he didn't take action when the hut inspector general told years about improprieties in the program why didn't you take the same action last may a year ago the jack kemp to cross miles well because as lawyer report was incomplete like the program was changing what we're looking at it to see how well it was coming along it would take a little time they have to give something a chance and well connected the consultants were hired for a lot to the naked eye and to the average american watching this isn't

exorbitant amount of consulting fee and a very large number of units went to the state that doesn't bother you said well if it doesn't that's why this whole program launched me because we had a program very someone please call section in construction only was a big year yes that outcome or are in you talk about money the inmate when that when i came down to washington they were telling me to lawyers in new york would sell the units and again by huge huge go for four thousand to two thousand dollars that was a going rate only at doing by only get the units a good they wanted a one thousand or two thousand dollars per unit yes we get rid of the program so we should have that that we shouldn't have gotten rid of leadership have clean the top oh yeah i mean you're related to a decision or people in your office made the decision that you can tell in a big band that you know i make that does somebody

get it because i was there was to issue to bed and that's our i'm sorry about that and it does show a look at nine simon very sorry about that but i really believe we shoo away while pearce said that he didn't take calls from consultants the former hud secretary denied ever ordered his staff to find a particular project the committee now will focus on the role of pierce's former executive assistant deborah gordy next and i did events in china as seen by both chinese americans and chinese citizens living or studying in the united states one of the largest chinese communities in the country's in san francisco peter prominent public station kqed reports on the impact of the beijing student protests in the san francisco area it didn't take long for the momentous events in china to find an echo in san francisco

in a march on the chinese currency more than a thousand visiting chinese students noisily demonstrated support for their fellow students back home test also revealed the differing reactions of foreign students and san francisco's much larger chinese community only a few chinese him eric owens took to the streets and finding themselves an ocean away from home some visiting students are supporting the struggle by sending back news unavailable within china using fax machines a student's transmit news clippings describing go worldwide reaction to the aging of rising as well as details of events in china that had been blacked out back home in china a problem here that even reaching the city even within the city some time and it's hard to get information so that like the shanghai i remember friday maybe

as someone maybe the government forced in the state all of the ratings didn't know already succeeded so they'll withdraw from cameras clicked so you should go solo or was in this psalm student andy as left versus sunscreen shot by little they fund they work for the government and the so they let them into office the students are willing to face the risk of retribution when they return to china in light of the realty efforts of students their small san francisco's chinese community has been following the uprising in beijing with interest their reaction has been much more passive than that of foreign students here there've been no protests are marchers to mark their concern the san francisco bay area is home to a quarter million people of chinese descent chinatown the community's geographic's evers' picture ask the poor population

here is diverse some support mainland china others or their allegiance to taiwan the entire community has been riveted to the drama unfolding in beijing news vendors are enjoying record sales every hong kong newspaper has this all about people trying to get a hong kong newspaper here in chinatown have been unable to buy them i ask if they're just a few minutes late afternoon been delivered serino writes a weekly newspaper in chinatown i think the sympathies lie in this new for democracy own i don't i mean there are people who've been diehard anti communists ever since they won but i think the majority of the people just want to see a government that suits the needs of the people and doesn't repressed than the first city of american chinese in contrast to be active role of foreign students here is understandable says henry durr a leader of the chinese american civil rights movement for instance who come from china

very agitated and rightly so because one day after returned to china to chinese american legion says to our country here in america than i can come up with all sorts of ideas not be the same because it had no way to really tell them what to do but it's really about the same cultural heritage that we want the best thing for the chinese never really resolved having been cut off from his homeland after he left in nineteen forty nine san francisco city supervisor tom shea hopes the democratic movement there will reopen the doors to china mejia says people just simply want to visit the roots of them where they come from in you just wanna go back to see some local culture so force but if china opens up and more in the future i think this communication exchange will be greater while many chinese

americans would welcome open access to china they're strongly against the american government getting involved in china's internal struggle civil rights leader henry durr chinese americans do not have the answers for those tunes and workers are protesting in china in neither does president bush and i hope that president bush says no lot of this entire debate and i think i'm a totally inappropriate read it would really adversely affect what needs to be done natural course of social political dynamics between the students and workers on one hand the government leaders of china and they have to play it out themselves whatever the outcome the newspaper editor serene a champion sees the aging rebellion instilling a new pride among chinese americans to see millions of people in china saying that we won't take this anymore i think is something that most chinese here in this

country views with great great joy and tonight the spanish opera singer jose carreras returns to carnegie hall it's his first new york performance since it began a battle against leukemia two years ago our special arts correspondent joanna simon has a profile of this superstar tenor and his comeback he says it was a typical run through before a recital soloist arrived early to go over his program with the accompanist and check out the acoustics of schism agrees that me that you know

it's usually the front of vox global where you have your problem wasn't an event we are standing on a peak behind the prompter xbox usually provides the best acoustical sound and the food like a lot of like this was not a typical rehearsal it'd been too long difficult years was in soccer star jose carreras had some in the united states and the musical community eagerly awaiting his return in early nineteen eighties world's greatest cities you'd

answer with especially poor chances for survival but it was a hard moment very hard but at the same time commit these very cities diseases you know but they are the chances we can cue people look all of them but we can kill people sort of percentages <unk> there's one chance between one million i have to fight for christians jose pereira says born in nineteen forty six the sun had a hairdresser and a traffic policeman at age six something happened that would shape his future it is a little bit of a hollywood star of that is true i ain't one tool that scene and across the little to the place where we leave inside the oval across the lawn of orcas of the possible and

the dc where they were playing a film the mom and surely remembers called the record also with my arms i have to get these ideas man singing haven't seen that these charismatic personality on the screen ii is something way to wake up on me from the side and i found this very moment i wanted to be focusing on encouraged by his parents he studied music and enrolled in barcelona's conservatory lanza remained his inspiration i am herrera says

abc aired our aid as a child how rare a sudden captivated on our alliances charisma when he made his own profession and in nineteen seventeen at the age of twenty for critics claimed his personal magnetism as well as a sports within four years he was an international superstar if you remain modest about his success in the world of opera everything is easier but you read the beginning a mini buses north of the usual to have a very good to ten of isis so when a tenor somehow shows up the legal talent on the possibilities for it is probably easier to do that for anybody else and not going to make a quick career

what do you think are the qualities that are necessary to make a great career as a singer you need to be musical gimmick of the intelligent you need to be disciplined you need to be an artist i mean you have you need a lot of delegates to live the music world music career is had that combination of talents as a result he was constantly and demand not only for opera but also for other kinds of music a favorite with composers career is was chosen by leonard bernstein to sing the male lead in the nineteen eighty four recording of bernstein's broadway musical west side story career is played tony opposite curie to counter was very clear

hearst was also asked by the argentinean composer jerry overmyer is to record his knees a creole you're a creole mass with traditional latin american rhythms moving and suppose it was the last word you would complete before his leukemia was diagnosed less than two weeks after this recording session he was admitted to a barcelona hospital for intensive chemotherapy medications succeeded in putting his illness and to remission world dr dean buckner an associate of guerrero says barcelona doctors was familiar with this case i think that most of us felt that he was at a higher chance for a relapse then the average patient jose had a

very high why can't he had been reasonably bad their morphology for a prognosis so that we felt that his likelihood of being cured with chemotherapy a loan was probably no more than fifteen percent or twenty percent for talked about her first learned about an experimental treatment that offered a chance for complete recovery buckner is a bone marrow transplant specialist at the hutchinson cancer research center in seattle because there were no suitable marrow donors and rarest his family his only hope was the experimental treatment he's testing it involves removing some of the patients own narrow and chemically treated to remove any lingering cancer cells the patient is then placed in sterile isolation and given large doses of drugs and radiation to destroy the remaining merrill the tree janeiro is then re implanted and hopefully regenerate so careerist

decided to take a chance on this risky and painful procedure so we flew to seattle its heart mentally and visited the view of give opposite the spy thing is the worst thing a vision into when you were lying in the hospital bed and getting all the chemotherapy what was the thought that sustained you the most people are so i never wanted to disappoint these waves of affection and love i got from over the world with thousands and thousands and thousands of letters mrs justine evans from course so that gave me a lot of sense i didn't want to talk to disappoint all these people and i think the most fundamental in my book just six months after the transplant and one year after his diagnosis there is returned to the stage in his hometown of barcelona he sang a free outdoor concert and was welcomed back by an audience of

one hundred fifty thousand that concert was followed by a huge benefit performances throughout you have to raise money for the leukemia church and you founded in spain although still not out of the woods his chance for recovery improves as time passes it sounds an individual to the stink that's rising iii can cause of collusion after one season before were indispensible fundamental now that they are not anymore a priority and deliver on which things well for me my career has been away so very important thing in my life i don't have on my computer and more how big my career he saw how important might raise my recording another film another new production no no i don't want total tall make these mistakes in a war where career is once performed at two hundred times a year now has drastically cutback a schedule that you and agencies excepted

have personal meaning for him and in one city a top priority during his treatment at the hutchinson center he promised that if he ever sang in the united states again its first concert would be in seattle at the beginning i was fighting force for my life would do solemnly the leaks probably very hard to say very nice say not all iphone work to get me to stand is the thing about music and the upper end to sing against that is not true i was fighting for my life and i thought if i can save my life all of these people and save my life and he sees things about what i'm doing now and to beef before the scene was a pre election now look at rising wanted to use that now it's typical they have devoted devoted to communicate with people through to try to relieve people all my feelings this is absolutely a i wonder careers kept his promise to seattle

earlier this month she sang a benefit concert for the hutchinson center it was a sellout crowd with fans from all over the country beyond a co founder of the careers and came from los angeles nato is a graphic artist who drew this posters depicting career is in his most famous role she donates the proceeds to them was a career is leaking foundation he said that seeing her handmade sign was the most emotional moment of a very emotional night us lost with a verse that was a very touchable vivid picture and i get into heaven but again able to see able to do in normal life pieces is just to do things he's always wanted to do spend more time with his son

and not as the star of the visitors and while he's no longer obsessed with his career but critics say you singing better than ever i do this profession they sing about is absolutely incredible so this signifies of this out of the sickening stench and all these members of the service continuity this is nothing to compare it with what you're getting back what you get back what do the darker kind you if you realize realize was as an artist and as a human being and i think he's the discrimination

but of a man can have these people who are oh again the main points in the news the us economy grew more slowly than predicted in the first three months of nineteen eighty nine the administration said the federal reserve policy is slowing growth was working against inflation jim wright was reported all but decided to resign his house speaker next week in china hardline premier league appeared on television dispelling rumors that he was being teased out of power in nigeria

and iraq and that's our newshour for tonight we'll be back tomorrow night i'm judy woodruff thank you and good night reading people like everything everything additional funding is provided by the john d and catherine t macarthur foundation a catalyst for change and the station and other public television stations and the corporation for public broadcasting it's b fb