News stories from Friday June 2, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The California primary is a race for 271 convention delegates, winner take all. Senators Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern are the two major candidates. A Field poll shows McGovern with 46%, Humphrey 26%. Field was wrong only once, in the Truman-Dewey race of 1948, and then only by 5%. McGovern's strength is across the board, with both sexes, all races, in every part of the state and in all age groups except people over 65. Wallace is shown with 8%, Chisholm 2% and 13% are undecided. McGovern may win the nomination on the first ballot at the Democratic national convention.
Humphrey dismissed the poll results and stated his intention to win the election. An ABC poll also shows McGovern ahead by 20 points, but Humphrey supporters say that their man is not that far behind. McGovern remains low-key in contacts with voters in the wake of recent polls. His supporters fear a backlash of sympathy votes for Humphrey as result of the polls showing him behind. McGovern is uncertain about the margin of victory and warned against overconfidence. He says he will win, however.
[CBS] - President Nixon, after his address to Congress last night and a meeting with congressional leaders this morning, flew to Key Biscayne, Florida, this afternoon for a weekend of rest. Nixon briefed 30 leaders of Congress whose support will be crucial for ratification of the U.S.-Soviet arms agreements. Senator Hugh Scott said that the agreement freezes weapons that the Russians are making, but does not freeze U.S. weapons which are currently under construction. [CBS]
- American jets knocked out a power plant near Hanoi and cut a railroad to China, severing it near Vinh. Two large North Vietnamese supply ships and two barges were also hit. [CBS]
- North Vietnamese troops attacked Kontum in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, then were beaten back by defenders; one U.S. helicopter was shot down nearby. In Binh Dinh province a South Vietnamese airman smuggled an explosive charge into a command post at Qui Nhon. The post was blown up along with two South Vietnamese saboteurs. 20 people were injured. [CBS]
- The Pentagon reports that the U.S. B-52 fleet in southeast Asia is being increased again. Another air base in Thailand is being readied for possible use. [CBS]
- A narcotics researcher testified that Indochina's heroin traffic is tied directly to South Vietnamese leaders and foreign gangsters. Alfred McCoy, a Yale graduate student, told a Senate committee that South Vietnam's heroin and opium traffic is divided between the political organizations of President Nguyen Van Thieu, former Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky, and Premier Tran Thien Khiem. Some South Vietnamese working for the CIA are also said to be involved, and a Florida-based mafia family is allegedly deeply involved. McCoy claimed that American diplomats and intelligence agents know what's happening but don't do much about it. [CBS]
- Wholesale prices were up 0.6% in May, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.9%. Livestock prices were up 4.5%. Economic adviser Herbert Stein predicted that farm prices will level off in the coming months. [CBS]
- The Environmental Protection Agency will allow Ford to ship its 1973 cars to dealers as scheduled, provided that the cars pass preliminary exhaust emission tests. Before being sold, however, the cars will have to meet full federal anti-pollution standards. [CBS]
- George Wallace's doctors reported reflex movements in both of Wallace's legs up to the knees. Dr. Joseph Schanno said that physical therapy is continuing, but an abscess is draining protein from the body, causing a nutritional deficit. Wallace is now being fed large amounts of food, and is beginning to build himself up. No one knows yet if the governor will be able to attend the Democratic national convention next month. [CBS]
- Chicago Mayor Richard Daley charged that the same forces which disrupted the 1968 convention are operating again. Daley defended the 59-member bloc of delegates which he will control at the 1972 convention and denied that he thumbed his nose at Democratic party reforms in the delegate selection process. Senator McGovern, who headed the reform committee in '68, is trying to avoid a confrontation with Mayor Daley on the issue. [CBS]
- The federal government may cut $10 million in aid to schools in Boston on the grounds of racial discrimination. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare says that black and Spanish-speaking children are involved. [CBS]
- The jury has begun its deliberations in the trial of Angela Davis. She is charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy as a result of the August, 1970, shootout at the San Rafael courthouse in which four persons died. [CBS]
- In federal court in New Orleans, H. Rap Brown was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $2,000 for his 1968 conviction of carrying a gun across state lines. Brown's attorney William Kunstler argued unsuccessfully that his client had been illegally taken from a New York jail and brought to Louisiana by federal agents. [CBS]
- A mile-long line of mourners waited to pay their final respects to the Duke of Windsor. The Duke's coffin, draped with his personal standard, rests on a catafalque as a regiment of guards stands vigil in Saint George's Chapel. King George V and Queen Mary, the Duke's parents, are entombed there. In London, Lord Mountbatten welcomed the Duchess of Windsor when she arrived at Heathrow airport from Paris; the Duchess had lunch with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Many Britons who waited to pay homage to the Duke say they love the royal family, especially the former King. [CBS]
- The National Center for Health Statistics reports that the U.S. birth rate dropped to a record low in the first quarter of 1972, with 15.8 births per 1,000 population. [CBS]
- The California primary may determine the Democratic presidential candidate, or even the next President. California is an enormous state, with redwood trees, fertile soil, a large population, and the Tehachapi Mountains which divide the northern part of the state from the south. In the north, San Francisco should go to McGovern although Mayor Joseph Alioto is a Humphrey backer. Los Angeles is the heart of southern California. The movie industry is here, but also aerospace workers worried about their jobs, and Humphrey is counting on them. Taxes, busing and welfare are also issues. Both candidates are trying to court minority groups and the elderly. The youth vote supports McGovern. [CBS]
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 961.39 (+0.67, +0.07%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. |
Market Index Trends | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
June 1, 1972 | 960.72 | 109.69 | 14.91 |
May 31, 1972 | 960.72 | 109.53 | 15.23 |
May 30, 1972 | 971.18 | 110.35 | 15.81 |
May 26, 1972 | 971.25 | 110.66 | 15.73 |
May 25, 1972 | 969.07 | 110.46 | 16.48 |
May 24, 1972 | 965.46 | 110.31 | 17.87 |
May 23, 1972 | 962.30 | 109.78 | 16.41 |
May 22, 1972 | 965.31 | 109.69 | 16.03 |
May 19, 1972 | 961.54 | 108.98 | 19.58 |
May 18, 1972 | 951.23 | 107.94 | 17.37 |