February 23, 1996
Web posted at: 12 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- CIA director John Deutch is defending a policy exception empowering the intelligence agency to use journalists as spies.
Deutch told the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday that it's a simple matter of national security. He cited two hypothetical situations: one wherein a journalist is involved in a hostage situation in which Americans are being held, and another wherein journalists have access to a nation or group that has the ability to use weapons of mass destruction against the United States.
In a written statement Thursday, CNN President Tom Johnson said "an absolute ban on the use of journalists as 'covers' for spying should be in place." Johnson said CNN staffers will not be used as spies for "any government."
Deutch told the committee he's sympathetic to safety concerns, but said exceptions are inevitable.
WASHINGTON (CNN)-- Acknowledging that it is still "a work in progress," National Governors Association Chair Tommy Thompson, R-Wisconsin, and five governors presented their Medicaid and welfare reform plan to a Senate Finance Committee hearing Thursday.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the governors presented their overhaul of federal assistance plans for the poor and disabled to two House Committees.
The governors' plan was passed unanimously at the annual meeting of the National Governors Association on February 6.
The governors' plan aims to satisfy Hill Republicans and Democrats alike, ideally bringing a solution to the looming balanced-budget crisis. Medicaid and welfare are two of the biggest sticking points in budget negotiations.
The plans uses the "block grant" approach, giving chunks of money to each state to spend on programs as it sees fit.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan may face legal action when he returns from his worldwide tour.
Spokesman Nicholas Burns says Farrakhan informed the State Department by letter last month of his trip to Africa and the Middle East, but did not mention plans to visit Libya, Iraq, and Iran, nations labeled "pariah" states by Washington.
Burns revealed the existence of the Farrakhan letter Thursday. Earlier, Burns had said Farrakhan had no contact with the State Department before his trip.
It is illegal for U.S. citizens to use a U.S. passport to travel to Libya and Iraq without special validation. Burns does not know if Farrakhan obtained the requisite validation.
BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Prosecutors in the murder trial of John Salvi showed jurors videotapes of him demonstrating at a women's clinic he later attacked.
Prosecutors said that the two protests reveal Salvi as a purposeful anti-abortion activist.
Defense lawyers claim that Salvi was insane when he carried out the shooting rampage that left two people dead and five injured at two separate facilities in suburban Boston where abortions are performed.
Salvi lawyers say that the video shows him as a loner standing apart from the other abortion demonstrators.
LITHICUM, Maryland (CNN) -- Maryland's transit authority is beefing up safety on its commuter trains after last Friday's crash that killed 11 people.
Each window on all 110 Maryland Rail Commuter cars will be turned into an emergency exit to provide plenty of escape routes in an emergency. Each car now has only four emergency- escape windows.
The changes will be made over the next year at a cost of $1.5 million, said John Agro Jr., who administers the state transit agency. An additional $5 million will be spent on 60 passenger cars to make emergency exit doors easier to see. Clearer instructions will be posted on how to open them.
After last week's crash between a commuter train and an Amtrak passenger liner, the Maryland medical examiner said eight of the victims succumbed to smoke and flames. There were reports that some tried to escape the burning train, but were unable to kick open its doors and windows.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Florida Department of Citrus squeezed O.J. out of O.J. Simpson, USA Today reported Thursday.
The paper said Simpson has agreed to share marketing rights to his famous initials with the agency that's in charge of marketing Florida's citrus products.
"Simpson can pursue his interests and we can use 'O.J.' in connection with orange juice," Clark Jennings, a department lawyer said.
Simpson wants to control the use of his initials through a trademark on about 50 products, including clothing and toys. In exchange for the deal, the agency agreed not to oppose Simpson's bid to trademark his initials. Jennings said no money was paid to Simpson, whose initials stand for Orenthal James.
The citrus agency, which has marketed orange juice as "O.J." for more than 20 years, previously had fought to block Patent and Trademark Office approval of Simpson's trademark.
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AP contributed to this report.
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