News stories from Saturday January 5, 1974

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

An extensive poll of public reaction to discussion of the possible impeachment of President Nixon shows that 79 percent of those polled believe one or more of the most serious charges against the President are justified. While the poll, conducted by the Roper organization, shows a slim majority against impeachment, by 45 percent to 44, indications are that opposition stems not from belief in the President's innocence, but from fear of the destructive effect of an impeachment proceeding. Only 11 percent of those opposed to impeachment said they took that position because they believed the charges were unjustified. The poll led Roper analysts to conclude that "the President would seem to have a thin hold indeed on his office in the court of public opinion." Roper polled 2,020 persons. [New York Times] A previously undisclosed reason for the abrupt dismissal last fall of Archibald Cox as the special Watergate prosecutor was the White House fear that a grand jury would name President Nixon as a co-conspirator, but not as a defendant, for his role in the Watergate cover-up, according to well-informed sources. Such an approach had been discussed by Mr. Cox and his immediate staff as a solution to the constitutional restraint against indicting an incumbent President, the sources said, but no serious consideration was given then to the concept. The naming of a co-conspirator is usually reserved for those participants in a criminal activity who agree to aid the prosecution by testifying against others involved. [New York Times] Under the influence of rising jet fuel prices and federal regulatory policies, the cost of air travel is increasing at the fastest rate in more than a decade and threatening the mobility of millions of middle-class Americans who have learned to take trips around the world or across the country as a routine part of life. For students, for families traveling together and for many vacationists, the era of special cut-rate fares seems to be coming to an end. [New York Times] At 2 A. M. tomorrow the United States will begin a nearly nationwide experiment to find whether pushing back nightfall by an hour will help reduce the winter consumption of fuel. The nation will be on daylight saving time until April, 1975. [New York Times] Many service stations were closed by nightfall in preparation for the nation's fifth gasless Sunday. [New York Times] Mayor Beame plans to name David Dinkins to a post in his administration if Mr. Dinkins can settle his tax problems soon. The Mayor has promised that the person chosen for the job will be black, and he will be the first black Deputy Mayor of New York City. [New York Times] After two days of detailed talks in Washington with Secretary of State Kissinger, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan of Israel said that he hoped his country was now ready to take "the first step" toward peace with Egypt by reaching an accord on the separation of Israeli and Egyptian forces. Both Mr. Kissinger and General Dayan stressed that the purpose of the visit to Washington was to outline Israeli views on how to accomplish the disengagement of forces and to listen to American advice before making a specific proposal at the current talks on disengagement in Geneva. [New York Times] Heavy outbreaks of fighting between Israeli and Egyptian forces in and around the city of Suez were reported by the headquarters of the United Nations Emergency Force in Cairo, which described the situation as "tense." Artillery and machine-gun fire and shrapnel were reported to have struck buildings occupied by a Finnish contingent of the United Nations force, and a Finnish platoon doing exercises on a road at Suez reportedly came under direct fire, though no one was hit. [New York Times] The Nixon administration is moving ahead with plans to ask Congress for increased arms aid to South Vietnam during the current fiscal year, according to a number of administration officials. President Nixon, Secretary of State Kissinger and Defense Secretary James Schlesinger are known to have approved the general plans, but have not yet decided on the extent of the aid or its composition or how it will be presented to Congress. [New York Times]