News stories from Wednesday August 2, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Democratic national committee has been summoned to Washington, DC for Monday-Tuesday meetings to select George McGovern's new running mate. Hubert Humphrey says that he doesn't want the vice president post and hasn't been offered it. Senator Frank Church recommended that the committee find someone who will give breadth and diversity to the ticket; Senator Edmund Muskie is being considered. Democratic party chairman Jean Westwood said that the committee will probably accept whoever McGovern chooses.
McGovern campaign coordinator Frank Mankiewicz insists that he questioned Thomas Eagleton extensively before he was chosen as the vice-presidential candidate, and Eagleton assured him there were no skeletons in his closet.
[CBS] - 76-year-old John McClellan is the new chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, succeeding the late Allen Ellender. Birch Bayh will fill the committee vacancy after winning a runoff with Thomas Eagleton. [CBS]
- President Nixon has ordered his executive and campaign staff to cooperate in the investigation of the break-in at Democratic national headquarters and the apparent financial link to his campaign committee.
The General Accounting Office will conduct a full review of the campaign finances of the Committee to Re-Elect the President. Five men are now on trial for breaking in and trying to bug Democrat party headquarters on June 17. One of them, Bernard Barker, was found to have a check for $25,000 which was originally earmarked for the presidential campaign fund. Former Democratic party chairman Lawrence O'Brien urged the President to assign a special prosecutor to the case, and he called the incident a matter of political espionage.
The President's campaign officials are maintaining a low profile. Republican fundraiser Maurice Stans, who supposedly had the $25,000 check at one time, remains unavailable. A staffer read a statement in the name of Nixon campaign manager Clark MacGregor, saying that the matter is under investigation.
[CBS] - Republican party chairman Robert Dole said that despite what everyone might think, the Republican national convention is going to be exciting. Movies, live entertainment, a demonstration for President Nixon and a panel show are slated for prime time during the convention. [CBS]
- Egypt and Libya have agreed to merge. Presidents Sadat and Kaddafi arranged the merger. Arabs wish to present a stronger front against Israel. [CBS]
- The Senate is struggling with end-the-war amendments to the military weapons bill. The Senate approved the Aiken amendment modifying the Cranston amendment for U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam by October 1. It approves the Brooke substitute amendment for withdrawal in four months if American POW's are released. Senator Stennis leads the opposition to the amendments. [CBS]
- Communist gunners fired on South Vietnamese positions in Quang Tri city. [CBS]
- Henry Kissinger reported to President Nixon regarding his talks in Paris with North Vietnamese officials. The stock market went up in response. [CBS]
- The FDA has ordered an immediate stop to the production of livestock growth hormone DES for use in animal feeds. Animals which were fed DES were shown in laboratory tests to develop cancer, though no proof of harm to humans was evident. American Meat Institute president Herrell DeGraff said that the ruling will increase the amount of time required to raise cattle to produce beef, and will increase the amount of food necessary to fatten them. The cost of cattle production, and therefore beef, will increase. [CBS]
- An appeals court rejected the Department of Health, Education and Welfare's busing plan in favor of the neighborhood plan favored by the Justice Department and President Nixon. [CBS]
- The defense in the case of Arthur Bremer is using his diary in an attempt to prove that he was insane at the time Alabama Governor George Wallace was shot. Bremer's diary shows that he decided back on March 1 to assassinate either President Richard Nixon or Governor George Wallace. Dr. Eugene Brody, a psychiatrist, cited the diary and stated that Bremer felt a need to fill his inner emptiness. The diary tells how Bremer followed Nixon to Canada, and followed Wallace to Laurel, Maryland. The doctor says that Bremer has a mental disorder, schizophrenia. [CBS]
- The American Party opened its convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Rep. John Schmitz, a member of the John Birch Society, declared his candidacy for the party's nomination. Alabama Governor George Wallace ruled out a third-party bid. [CBS]
- One of the 15 candidates in Georgia's senate primary, former Ku Klux Klan organizer J.B. Stoner, is making a blatantly racist appeal. The mayor of Atlanta urged local radio and television stations to stop broadcasting his ads, but the stations are powerless because it is illegal to censor paid political advertising. [CBS]
- The FBI has identified as escaped convicts two men among the hijackers who forced a Delta Airlines plane to Algeria. George Brown and George Wright broke out of the Leesburg, New Jersey, state prison two years ago. [CBS]
- A forest fire in California is burning out of control. The blaze, which was touched off by a campfire, has caused a shroud of smoke over the redwood valleys of Big Sur State Park. Campers evacuated as 1,000 firemen descended on the area. Mountain winds are spreading the fire; bombers are spraying fire retardants. 15,000 acres will probably be destroyed. [CBS]
- President Nixon asked Congress to include private schools in its disaster relief for flooding in South Dakota and on the east coast. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 941.15 (+10.69, +1.15%)
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* |
| August 1, 1972 | 930.46 | 108.40 | 15.54 |
| July 31, 1972 | 924.74 | 107.39 | 11.12 |
| July 28, 1972 | 926.70 | 107.38 | 13.05 |
| July 27, 1972 | 926.85 | 107.28 | 13.87 |
| July 26, 1972 | 932.57 | 107.53 | 14.13 |
| July 25, 1972 | 934.45 | 107.60 | 17.18 |
| July 24, 1972 | 935.36 | 107.92 | 18.02 |
| July 21, 1972 | 920.45 | 106.66 | 14.01 |
| July 20, 1972 | 910.45 | 105.81 | 15.05 |
| July 19, 1972 | 916.69 | 106.14 | 17.88 |