News stories from Monday July 23, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Nixon has refused to grant special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox and the Senate Watergate committee access to White House tapes. The Senate Watergate committee responded with subpoenas. The President said he won't release the tapes because of the "separation of powers" theory. Other reasons for the refusal were spelled out in a letter to committee chairman Sam Ervin. President Nixon admitted going over the tapes prior to John Dean's testimony before the Watergate committee, and he determined that the tapes verified his own statements. The Watergate committee then unanimously voted to issue subpoenas to the President, who canceled his planned meeting with Ervin. Ervin criticized Nixon's reasoning behind not releasing the tapes. He believes that it is the President's duty to prove or disprove his activities regarding Watergate, and called the Watergate matter the "country's greatest tragedy".
Charles A. Wright, President Nixon's lawyer, signed the letter of refusal to special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox. The letter stated that Cox will receive only those documents which the President decides to give to him. Cox blasted the White House and accused the President of withholding evidence from the grand jury with no legal basis, and said that he also will seek subpoenas to obtain evidence.
Assistant press secretary Gerald Warren confirmed that the White House is no longer taping conversations and meetings.
[CBS] - Gordon Strachan, an assistant to H.R. Haldeman, completed his testimony before the Senate Watergate committee today. Strachan confirmed that telephone tapping was widespread in the White House, and he praised John Dean but not his boss, Haldeman. Strachan believes that Haldeman conducted "secret policies and secret operations".
He testified that a White House goal was to give less support to Republicans who opposed the Vietnam war. When Senator Weicker asked if financial support was withheld from Republican congressmen, Strachan replied that the President enjoyed getting the labor vote and to keep organized labor happy, no funds were to be sent to Republican congressional campaigns. He added that no one was concerned about Democrats continuing to control the House.
Strachan accused Haldeman of being aware of almost every aspect of the Watergate scandal, but noted that former aide Charles Colson had his own pipeline so he knew some things even Haldeman didn't. Responding to Senator Montoya, Strachan gave his advice to young people hoping to enter public service, saying that young people should stay away from politics. The Watergate committee will hear from former White House aide John Ehrlichman on Tuesday.
[CBS] - The first full week of Phase IV is in effect, and food prices have soared. Buyers swamped supermarkets before the final lifting of the freeze reached across the nation.
The costs of poultry and pork products have risen. Poultry processors are running at full capacity this week, but requests from supermarkets exceed production. Wholesalers have increased prices to an all-time high. As long as beef prices remains frozen and meat is in short supply, poultry will be in great demand. Milk and bread prices are expected to increase substantially within the next month also.
[CBS] - The Senate committee's hearings on the Russian wheat sale continued. Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz accused committee chairman Henry Jackson of prejudging the evidence before the hearings began. Butz also recalled his difficult Senate confirmation when he was nominated for Secretary of Agriculture. Committee member William Saxbe bickered with Jackson today over investigation procedures; Saxbe accused Jackson of badgering witnesses and prejudgment. [CBS]
- Hijackers holding a Japanese plane ordered the pilot to take off from Dubai airport after spending the last three days on the ground there with 140 passengers and crew as hostages. The plane was hijacked last Friday after takeoff from Amsterdam. Official reports stated that the plane landed in Baghdad, Iraq. [CBS]
- Only one survivor was reported after a Pan Am 707 crashed into the Pacific near Tahiti. At least 32 on board were Americans. [CBS]
- The Senate Armed Services Committee has decided to hold full-scale hearings regarding the secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969 and 1970. Committee chairman Stuart Symington said that an investigation will be made into the bombing and the order to falsify records. Symington stated that funds for the bombing must have been obtained under false pretenses. Senator Harold Hughes noted that the Chinese, Russians, North Vietnamese and Cambodians knew about the bombing, but the Senate Armed Services Committee, Congress and the American people didn't know. Defense Secretary James Schlesinger called the Pentagon's record "less than perfect" on the matter. [CBS]
- Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I ace, died in Switzerland. He fought against Baron von Richthofen in World War I and downed 22 German planes. In 1935, he took over the management of Eastern Airlines. [CBS]
- The town of Obsidian, Idaho, has been singled out for criticism because of its "ugliness". The government intends to move in and create more recreational land for tourists. The town will become extinct as the federal government seizes private land; citizens are not happy. Full-time residents think they're being booted off their land for the benefit of tourists who visit for two months out of the year. Property owners will be compensated, but town postmaster Jim Decker believes the government's plan is unfair. Decker noted that big cities are much uglier than Obsidian. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 913.15 (+2.25, +0.25%)
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* |
| July 20, 1973 | 910.90 | 107.14 | 16.30 |
| July 19, 1973 | 906.68 | 106.55 | 18.65 |
| July 18, 1973 | 905.40 | 106.35 | 17.02 |
| July 17, 1973 | 898.03 | 105.72 | 18.75 |
| July 16, 1973 | 897.58 | 105.67 | 12.92 |
| July 13, 1973 | 885.99 | 104.09 | 11.39 |
| July 12, 1973 | 901.94 | 105.50 | 16.40 |
| July 11, 1973 | 908.19 | 105.80 | 18.73 |
| July 10, 1973 | 888.32 | 103.52 | 15.09 |
| July 9, 1973 | 877.26 | 102.14 | 11.56 |