News stories from Friday May 18, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Attorney General-designate Elliot Richardson named Archibald Cox as special Watergate prosecutor. President Nixon vowed that he will not resign over the Watergate scandal. Senator Stuart Symington claims to have seen documents that make it harder than ever for him to believe that the President didn't know about the Watergate cover-up. [CBS]
- Convicted Watergate spy James McCord testified before the Senate Watergate committee today. McCord said that John Caulfield, claiming to be speaking for President Nixon, offered him executive clemency and financial help while in prison, and a job when he got out of prison in return for remaining silent and pleading guilty in the Watergate trial. Offers were made on three occasions. Senator Sam Ervin pointed out that McCord had no direct knowledge that Nixon was involved.
Senate committee attorney Sam Dash asked McCord why, after an unblemished career, he agreed to commit illegal acts. McCord replied that he was told both Attorney General John Mitchell and White House attorney John Dean had considered and approved the espionage plans. McCord felt that President Nixon himself knew of the activities and had OK'd them. McCord stated that E. Howard Hunt told him Charles Colson was involved in the wiretap. He added that Robert Mardian of the Justice Department supplied daily reports from the FBI concerning possible trouble for Republicans. Caulfield is scheduled to testify after McCord.
[CBS] - John Caulfield responded to McCord's testimony, saying that he feels McCord testified truthfully as far as he could remember, but certain aspects of his testimony were inaccurate. Senate sources reported that Caulfield's White House contact was John Dean. [CBS]
- White House spokesman Ron Ziegler stated that President Nixon never authorized anyone to represent him in offering executive clemency. Ziegler repeated Nixon's claim of innocence in the Watergate scandal. Senator Stuart Symington, after reading CIA documents, is convinced that the White House tried to shift responsibility for Watergate to the CIA, and Symington said that it is harder than ever to believe that the President was not involved.
Senator John McClellan's committee, which is investigating CIA involvement in Watergate, plans to call John Dean, John Ehrlichman, H.R. Haldeman and David Young to testify.
[CBS] - Attorney General-designate Elliot Richardson has chosen Archibald Cox as special Watergate investigator, praising Cox for his skill and integrity. Cox is a Harvard law professor who served as Solicitor General under President Kennedy. Cox's selection is likely to improve Richardson's chances of confirmation as Attorney General. Cox said that he will do his best and will definitely carry out an independent investigation. [CBS]
- Communists and South Vietnamese government troops exchanged fire near Hue, South Vietnam. [CBS]
- Opposition to the bombing of Cambodia continues to mount in Congress. Airmen who are flying the bombing missions are also critical of U.S. policy. American servicemen in Guam have been told not to talk publicly about U.S. policy in Indochina. Many B-52 missions over Cambodia originate from Guam. Servicemen who have written to Congress criticizing U.S. Indochina policy have later faced court-martial. Nevertheless, some servicemen continue to speak out. Capt. James Strain said that he feels U.S. involvement in Cambodia is illegal. The war there is basically a civil war, and Strain says that many other servicemen feel same way he does. Sgt. Roy Simerly said that he's killing hundreds of people every day for no reason, and he feels like a paid killer. Capt. Strain and two other officers have filed suit in Brooklyn, New York, to stop the bombing. [CBS]
- Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho continued their meeting in Paris to discuss ways to salvage the Vietnam truce. [CBS]
- Soviet Communist party leader Leonid Brezhnev met with West German Chancellor Willy Brandt in West Germany. [CBS]
- Four men who were wanted for the murders of six members of a Georgia farm family are under arrest in West Virginia. H.R. Hall found three of the suspects sleeping in a cave and turned them over to authorities on suspicion of murder. Wayne Colman, Carl Isaac and William Isaac, along with George Dungy who was captured earlier, were flown to West Virginia for trial. [CBS]
- Attorney F. Lee Bailey and Florida promoter Glenn Turner were indicted for mail fraud and conspiracy in connection with Turner's pyramid scheme program known as "Dare to Be Great". [CBS]
- President Nixon vetoed a bill which would have required Senate confirmation of Roy Ash as director of the Office of Management and Budget and Fred Malek as his deputy. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 895.17 (-16.55, -1.82%)
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* |
| May 17, 1973 | 911.72 | 105.56 | 13.06 |
| May 16, 1973 | 917.14 | 106.43 | 13.80 |
| May 15, 1973 | 917.44 | 106.57 | 18.53 |
| May 14, 1973 | 909.69 | 105.90 | 13.52 |
| May 11, 1973 | 927.98 | 108.17 | 12.98 |
| May 10, 1973 | 939.34 | 109.54 | 13.52 |
| May 9, 1973 | 949.05 | 110.44 | 16.05 |
| May 8, 1973 | 956.58 | 111.25 | 13.73 |
| May 7, 1973 | 950.71 | 110.53 | 12.50 |
| May 4, 1973 | 953.97 | 111.00 | 19.51 |