Preview -- World News Tonight 08/16/01
Aug. 16 -- — Peter Jennings is on the road. Charles Gibson anchors the broadcast tonight and senior producer Stu Schutzman has our preview.
Good Afternoon.
A half million acres of America's West is burning out of control. And the likelihood of bringing the fires under control any time soon is not very good. Firefighters are at wit's end; the weather for the most part is not cooperating; equipment and supplies are running dangerously low. States of emergency have been declared throughout the Northwest. Bill Redeker reports.
And we look at a day in the life of the Winema hotshots, an elite unit of firefighters in Oregon. Our David Wright has spent the last day or so with them, at times climbing in pitch darkness with the fireline close enough to hear it crackle. It's dangerous, intense and downright scary work and, as Wright found out, it's an attempt to beat the fire one ridge at a time.
Dan Harris will take a closer look tonight at a new study done in England that is very promising for the treatment of heart attacks. For many people at risk, the combination of aspirin and a blood thinner can greatly reduce the odds of a second heart attack or stroke. Researchers estimate that thousands of lives will be saved. Many heart specialists on this side of the Atlantic are very excited.
Are those wedding bells we hear? Britain's royal family is at it again. According to an article in the British journal "The Spectator," well-placed sources predict that Prince Charles and his "girlfriend" Camilla Parker Bowles will get married sometime in the not too distant future with the OK from Queen Elizabeth. The queen, apparently, is not wild about the idea but has decided that any legal or religious problems concerning the marriage be sorted out before her death. Succession and tradition are very weighty matters in royal circles. Those close to the royal palace contend that Mrs. Bowles will never be queen herself or even hold a title, but at least Charles and Camilla will grow old together as husband and wife. Richard Gizbert has been out and about in London to gauge the reaction.
