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News stories from Friday August 3, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Nixon accused Congress of abandoning a friend after its vote several weeks ago to end Cambodian bombing on August 15. In a letter to Congress, the President stated his hope that North Vietnam won't take fresh aggression against Cambodia because of the U.S. pull-out. The Pentagon ordered all bombing to halt on August 15, but unarmed reconnaissance planes will continue to fly over Laos and Cambodia. [CBS]
- A CBS reporter visited pilots in Utapao, Thailand, from which U.S. B-52 missions originate. Utapao is the principal base for bombing missions into Cambodia. Some bomber pilots spoke about the bombing. Sgt. Timmonds Barnett said that the men are tired of the base because they've been here for so long. Asked if the bombing of Cambodia is more controversial than South Vietnam, Capt. John Wiley stated that tangible goals in Cambodia are unclear, but goals in South Vietnam included the return of U.S. prisoners of war. Col. Walter Schrupp admitted that morale has dropped since the prisoners of war release. [CBS]
- Communist troops are advancing rapidly on Phnom Penh, without apparent resistance. Refugees clog the highways, making U.S. bombing support impossible. Government troops are on the defensive, but insurgents advance anyway. Phnom Penh is fighting for its life. Civilians are evacuating, leaving their possessions and homes behind. [CBS]
- The Senate Watergate committee heard from former acting FBI director L. Patrick Gray. Former CIA deputy director Vernon Walters partially confirmed Gray's version of a call from President Nixon to Gray last July. Walters said that the President asked Gray's opinion about the cover-up of the Watergate case; Gray told the President it couldn't be covered up.
The involvement of high White House officials was discussed along with Gray's belief that the removal from office of those officials should be done quickly. Nixon asked Gray about Walters' judgment of the case and Gray said that Walters agreed. Gray was told by the President to continue with his investigation. Gray reported that at a meeting with John Ehrlichman and John Dean, no orders were expressly given to destroy E. Howard Hunt's files, though the files were destroyed sometime after Christmas. Hunt's files implicated the Kennedy administration in the assassination of South Vietnam President Diem in 1963. It was later learned that those files ware fake. Gray believes he was used in a political scheme, and insists that Ehrlichman and Dean wanted Hunt's files destroyed even though no specific order was given. Based on Gray's testimony, President Nixon must have been aware of something wrong in the White House a year before the whole story broke. [CBS]
- Before departing for August vacation, Congress approved the final passage today of a highway bill authorizing the expenditure of $1 billion in trust funds on urban transit systems. A minimum wage increase to $2.20 hour passed, and the final passage of the farm bill was achieved. [CBS]
- Federal judge Gerhard Gesell ruled that the President's impounding of funds is illegal. The action was taken after $52 million for mental health was frozen. [CBS]
- Before the new campaign contribution reform law was passed, $15 million in secret contributions flowed into the Nixon campaign. Some of the names are now leaking out. The list of secret contributors was kept by the President's personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods. In the "New Republic" magazine, Tad Szulc publicized some of the names supposedly on the list, including Calvin Kovens, $25,000; Armand Hammer, $50,000; Howard Hughes, $200,000; Nathan Lipson, $100,000; Edgar Allen Broun, $150,000. The White House had no comment, but a former high-ranking White House employee said that the names are correct and their contributions approximately correct. [CBS]
- President Nixon proposed broad changes in the country's financial system. He wants Congress to lift the interest rate ceiling on savings, which would result in negotiable interest rates on savings accounts between banks and savings and loan associations. The President also wants the ceilings on V.A. and F.H.A mortgages lifted to make money for mortgages more readily available. Congress' reaction to the proposals is uncertain. [CBS]
- The federal government reported that the unemployment rate for July dropped to 4.7% of the labor force. [CBS]
- The Justice Department has reopened the probe of the incident in which four Kent State University students were shot by National Guardsmen on May 4, 1970. Former Attorney General John Mitchell closed the case before taking it before a grand jury. Critics claimed that Mitchell wanted to shift blame away from the National Guard. Assistant Attorney General Stanley Pottinger says that the Kent State probe is being reopened because additional information is desired in some areas; former Attorney General Mitchell was not wrong in closing the investigation years ago, however. Senator Birch Bayh referred to student Terry Norman, who was found with a pistol after the Kent State tragedy. Bayh contended that the fatal shot could have been fired by him. Neither the FBI nor the grand jury investigated Norman. [CBS]
- State Department spokesman Charles Bray refused to accept press complaints about the deterioration of the flow of news from his department; Bray said that the complaint has no documentation. The complaint has now been sent to Secretary of State William Rogers. [CBS]
- A resort hotel on the Isle of Man was destroyed by fire; arson is suspected. It was Great Britain's worst fire in many years, with numerous casualties. [CBS]
- Four environmental groups have filed suit in Spokane, Washington, to force the Atomic Energy Commission to change its radioactive waste disposal practices at the Hanford atomic reservation. The uranium waste products produced at Hanford are dangerously radioactive, and leaks in recent years have caused grave concern. Soil samples show nuclear contaminants. The wastes may get into the Columbia River, which would affect drinking water, irrigation and fish life.
The Atomic Energy Commission is under attack from the National Resources Defense Council. Lawyers and environmentalists are demanding closer EPA supervision over the Atomic Energy Commission's waste disposal practices because even low levels of radiation can cause cancer and mutations. The wastes which are stored at Hanford are so concentrated that a nuclear reaction could occur. The Atomic Energy Commission admits that a reaction could happen, but called it a remote possibility. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 908.87 (-1.27, -0.14%)
S&P Composite: 106.49 (-0.18, -0.17%)
Arms Index: 1.01
| Issues | Volume* |
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| Advances | 640 | 4.06 |
| Declines | 684 | 4.37 |
| Unchanged | 399 | 1.51 |
| Total Volume | 9.94 |
* in millions of sharesArms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish.
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| Market Index Trends |
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| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
|---|
| August 2, 1973 | 910.14 | 106.67 | 12.08 |
| August 1, 1973 | 912.18 | 106.83 | 13.53 |
| July 31, 1973 | 926.40 | 108.22 | 13.53 |
| July 30, 1973 | 933.77 | 109.25 | 11.17 |
| July 27, 1973 | 936.71 | 109.59 | 12.91 |
| July 26, 1973 | 934.53 | 109.85 | 18.41 |
| July 25, 1973 | 933.02 | 109.64 | 22.22 |
| July 24, 1973 | 918.72 | 108.14 | 16.28 |
| July 23, 1973 | 913.15 | 107.52 | 15.58 |
| July 20, 1973 | 910.90 | 107.14 | 16.30 |
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