Up Close and Personal 4 Page #9

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- I'm so tired

You know what I keep

thinking about?

That time you tried to teach me

to bone fish in the Keys.

- I was really terrible, wasn't I?

- Well, you were okay.

Ten seconds.

Tal, the TAC teams are here.

They're taking up positions.

As you know, Channel Seven's

Tally Atwater...

and cameraman, Ned Jackson

remain inside Holmesburg Prison...

where they have been reporting

exclusively...

...for WFIL.

- Merino.

The Team was inside the prison

interviewing inmates for a special...

report when the riot broke out.

The network wants to go live,

national.

It's your show.

Let's try to go live, once again, to

Tally Atwater. What can you tell us?

We've been told that tactical assault

teams are taking up positions...

outside, even as I speak. Should

there be an onslaught, prisoners...

What the hell? Tal! Can you hear me?

- Goddamn it!

- What's going on?

We lost her.

- Warren, what's happening?

- Tally, are you there? Do you hear me?

We're here in Holmesburg Prison,

where the SWAT team has come in.

Philadelphia, hang on. New York, what?

They don't have audio either.

When we do, we'll let you know.

If we get it, when we get it, we're

gonna go national. That's right.

You wanna hold in New York City?

Civil rights attorney...

prisoner's advocate,

Gary Mandinak.

Gentlemen, thank you for joining

us at this very late hour.

- Is it, is it her?

- Wait a minute.

We got something.

- Fernando?

- Tal, can you hear me?

Open this door!

Open it! Open it!

Tal, can you hear me?

Are you okay?

I'm okay.

I'm okay.

Fernando?

Can I talk to you?

Question. Are you now saying that you

have this situation under control?

- Under control.

- How is that possible?

They're claiming control...

ask her about it.

Tally, we're getting word that the

situation there is under control.

You're feeding live, Tal. National.

- Well... the inmates have the control.

- Which inmates?

Or... more accurately one

group of inmates has control.

This has not been good news

for other inmates.

Of the 8 men have been killed today,

none, repeat none have been guards.

One of the eight dead inmates...

one was apparently shot by tower

guard. The other seven...

were victims of continuing racial

vendettas here...

No more gang sh*t, Tally.

Fernando, how much more time do

you have left on your sentence?

Ah, madre. I got fifteen months,

and then I come up for parole.

You know what's going to happen when

the guards come in. You'll end up dead.

I could end up dead

on Biscayne Boulevard.

It's two AM. The riot has been

underway for close to ten hours.

We're back live with W.F.I.L.

Philadelphia Tally Atwater...

who is inside Holmesburg Prison.

Tally's been keeping us informed

from her bird's eye view of the riot.

- What's the mood?

- Describe the scene. Can you, Tally?

The mood here, Tom, is ominous.

Inmates are prepared...

for what they believe will be the

final assault. Probably before dawn.

- They give indication they'll fight.

- Are they armed?

Because to fight is a way of life,

life learned on the streets.

To see the faces inside this

prison, is to remember that...

on such streets crime is just

a way of taking care of business.

This is Tally Atwater

inside Holmesburg Prison.

Get it down?

You're watching live footage of

the riot at Holmesburg Prison.

W.F.I.L. 's Tally Atwater and

cameraman, Ned Jackson...

are inside the prison,

as you see by these...

dramatic pictures that we're getting.

The TAC team has entered the prison.

In the next minutes and hours,

the matter will be resolved.

Now the question is,

how high the price?

Can you hear me, Tal?

You see anything?

I guess... Turn around.

don't get shot, guys.

Stand by. We've lost Tal. When we

get her back, we'll let you know.

Twenty-four hours ago,

I came to Holmesburg Prison...

to report on how Governor George

McBride new "get tough" prison policies

were affecting one convict.

It was meant to be A Day in the

Life of Fernando Buttanda.

Fernando Buttanda was not a good

man by society's standards.

He was not even a good man

by his own standards.

Recently, however, in a job-training

program here at Holmesburg...

Fernando began to learn

nursing skills.

He volunteered to work

in the prison hospital...

at some risk to himself,

with violent patients.

He was good at it.

He liked doing it.

A month ago, Governor McBride,

who is campaigning for reelection...

on the pledge to "reform" other

Pennsylvania prisons...

as he "reformed" Holmesburg,

canceled this program.

"A prison is about punishment."

He added, "it's not"

about another chance."

During the next weeks, we'll hear a

lot about what prisons should be.

A lot opinions as to why this riot

occurred, in this place, at this time.

Many fixes will be proposed,

many answers formulated.

Inside Holmesburg Prison last night,

answers were harder to come by.

What we do know is that

fifteen prisoners died...

including Fernando Buttanda.

This is Tally Atwater, W.F.I.L.

News, Holmesburg Prison.

Thank you, Tally. And we'll be

recapping all of Tally's coverage...

You were good.

No... you were great.

Tally Atwater for Mark Lindner.

This is as far as I go.

One floor up,

the first door on your left.

Miss Atwater, I'm Mark Lindner.

It's good of you to come and see us.

- Would you like coffee, a soft drink?

- No, thank you, I'm fine.

Karen, you know what call to put

through. This is Buford Sells.

- How do you do? Lt's a real pleasure.

- And Gabe Lawrence.

- How are you?

- Have a seat.

For better or worse, we're the Three

Musketeers who run the News Division.

That was quite a job

you did for us at Holmesburg.

Don't get up.

- So.

- So.

- Well, tell me what they said.

- Washington Bureau...

weekend anchor, evening news.

I said Id think about it.

- Can I help you?

- We'll wait.

- Sure.

- Weekend anchor?

What's to think about?

Well, actually what I think is,

we make a pretty good team.

It's no good that way.

We tried. It doesn't work.

- We did Holmesburg. It worked.

- No, you did Holmesburg.

And you did it yourself.

And you were terrific.

I think there's a story in

Panama nobody's telling.

I have a hunch that some people would

like to see us get into a war...

'cos they're not that enthusiastic

about turning over the Canal in 1999.

We can do Panama.

- Networks aren't interested.

- We can make them interested.

I can go into Panama City, spend a

few days, pick up a local crew...

and head out.

You already set this up.

Yeah. Ive gotta do this by

myself. Do you see that?

- Wasn't the idea for us to be together?

- It was.

But it can't be me putting wine on ice

while you wrap up the evening news.

And it can't be you turning down a

story 'cause you don't wanna leave me.

Do you wanna be with me?

So much that it hurts.

I don't wanna be anywhere I can't see

you, touch you, hear your voice...

or tell you a story,

or see this great smile.

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