TV & VIDEO - July 22, 1988

Quick! What do President Reagan, Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra, former Nevada Sen. Paul Laxalt and former Interior Secretary James Watt all have in common? They may be called as witnesses in Wayne Newton’s court fight against NBC next year. Newton and the network will be in a Los Angeles court in May to determine how much NBC owes him for defaming him in a broadcast that linked him to Vegas mobsters. Newton originally won a $19.3-million judgment in a 1986 trial in Las Vegas, but a judge subsequently reduced that to $5.2 million--a decision that prompted Newton to seek another trial on the damages.