July 11, 1997

American families, starting in October, will have at their disposal most extensive system yet devised to alert them to violent or sexual content in television shows, and year or so later, they will be able to buy television sets that can block programs that family deems objectionable; Vice Pres Al Gore praises family advocacy groups and networks for agreeing to more detailed ratings system, but others have expressed alarm; representatives of television writers, directors and actors denounce system as threat to their creativity and their First Amendment rights; several Senators have denounced colleagues who signed pledges not to pass laws affecting television content for three years, saying that those who did so to entice networks into agreeing to new ratings system had abdicated responsibility to their constituents (M)

Salvatore Gravano, former mob killer who has become major Government witness, tells in jury in the Vincent Gigante trial that he received about $250,000 for the best-selling book about his bloody career and that he hopes for up to $1 million from movie deal; describes Gigante, alleged Genovese crime family boss, as lucid and fully in control during meeting with other mob bosses, countering defense claims of mental illness; Peter Maas, author of the Gravano book, Underboss, and HarperCollins, publisher, deny paying Gravano for book; Judge Jack B Weinstein orders publisher to submit documents; he and relatives of Gravano's victims have harsh words about profiteering from seamy crimes (M)

LIFE'S WORTH -- Families of Flight 800's crash victims urged a House subcommittee to back a bill that would remove distinctions between crashes on land and at sea. B4. CAPITAL PLAN -- State lawmakers reached an agreement on a capital program for the transit system and on restoring money that was cut for bus and subway service. B4. NEW AMTRAK STATION -- A deal has been reached to build an Amtrak railroad station in Manhattan, but on a less ambitious scale. B5.

Malcolm Shabazz, 12-year-old grandson of Malcolm X, pleads guilty to juvenile equivalent of second-degree manslaughter for starting fire that killed his grandmoter, Dr Betty Shabazz; his lawyers, Percy Sutton and David N Dinkins, say that in consultation with boy and his mother, Qubilah Shabazz, they have decided to accept plea bargain to avoid intimate description of Malcolm's troubled childhood in open court; he faces maximum sentence of up to 18 months in juvenile detention facility or psychiatric hospital; sentence would be renewable annually until he is 18; photo (M)

New Jersey will be able to meet stricter Federal limits for air pollution from soot by 2004, well before EPA's proposed deadline; Comr Robert C Shinn Jr tells New Jersey members of Congress it will take longer to comply with tougher smog rules, but 2007 deadline will be met (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)