News stories from Tuesday May 8, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Court records reveal that the Nixon re-election campaign used a Bethesda, Maryland, accounting firm to change contribution checks into cash before being turned over to the campaign, as a way to make the tracing of contributions more difficult. The firm is headed by Henry Buchanan, whose brother Patrick is a presidential speech writer. [CBS]
- John Dean has been given partial immunity to testify before the Senate Watergate committee. Senator Sam Ervin stated that his committee can guarantee that testimony which Dean gives before the committee will not be used in a court trial. But immunity from prosecution by the courts is not being granted. Senator Howard Baker says that he wants information, but he also wants the guilty to be punished.
Press secretary Ron Ziegler announced that President Nixon is giving Elliot Richardson the freedom to choose an independent Watergate prosecutor. Nixon has issued guidelines for his aides who are testifying regarding Watergate. The guidelines bar the aides from talking about conversations with the President on the subject of Watergate, but if the aides do not wish to comply they cannot be forced to do so.
Senator Mike Mansfield may delay the confirmation vote on Elliot Richardson as Attorney General until a special Watergate prosecutor is named.
[CBS] - E. Howard Hunt was given access to State Department files which he then altered to make it appear that the Kennedy administration had a direct hand in the assassination of South Vietnam President Diem. That access was given when the White House requested it. White House aide David Young requested that Hunt be allowed to see secret State Department cables. State Department spokesman Charles Bray didn't say who issued the authorization, but it normally would have been Deputy Undersecretary of State William Macomber, and Macomber normally would have gotten the approval of Secretary of State Rogers. But Rogers said that he only learned of Hunt's activities in the State Department yesterday. [CBS]
- AFL-CIO president George Meany attacked President Nixon on Watergate. An AFL-CIO statement said that the Nixon administration is steeped in scandal and twisted by privilege, and called for an independent counsel to investigate Watergate. Meany also accused White House aide Charles Colson of attempting to trigger an incident between President Nixon and organized labor on November 19, 1971. [CBS]
- Democrat Senator William Proxmire accused the news media of trying to convict President Nixon; he specifically objected to the media's reporting of John Dean's allegations linking the President to the Watergate cover-up. Press secretary Ron Ziegler refused to clarify the President's statement of innocence regarding Watergate cover-up attempts. [CBS]
- Senator William Brock called for the reform of campaign finance laws in order to eliminate future Watergates. [CBS]
- Lebanon and the Palestinian guerrillas have reached a cease-fire agreement. Lebanese Prime Minister Ameen Hafez resigned, and the army has taken over the government. Syria, which gives support to the guerrillas, closed its border with Lebanon. [CBS]
- The American consul-general in Guadalajara, Mexico, has been freed by his kidnappers. Terrance Leonhardy was released after the kidnappers were given $80,000 ransom and 30 political prisoners were released and flown to Cuba. Leonhardy thanked the Mexican government for its efforts to secure his freedom. [CBS]
- Since January 27, the U.S. has had nine men killed and two missing as result of the continuing air war in Indochina. The cost of the bombing during this period was nearly $260 million. [CBS]
- Members of the Joint Military Commission will fly to North Vietnam to inspect the graves of American servicemen. [CBS]
- A marijuana ring has been uncovered at Camp David, Maryland. Almost 50 Marines and Navy men were transferred from Camp David posts because of their marijuana use. [CBS]
- The long occupation by militant Indians of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, is over; American Indian Movement members laid down their arms today. Most of the AIM leaders, including Dennis Banks, escaped from the area. Russell Means was arrested earlier. [CBS]
- Rain and tornadoes hit from southern Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. A tornado in Geraldine, Alabama, killed two persons and caused much property damage. [CBS]
- A court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to release $6 billion in impounded water pollution control funds. [CBS]
- William Simon, the chairman of the government's Oil Policy Committee, said that a program is now ready to divide up gasoline supplies in order to avoid having small and independent stations close. [CBS]
- It was reported that retail food prices in 1973 are expected to be 9% above 1972 levels. [CBS]
- The Watergate scandal is a watershed in the history of presidential power. The President's power will now start to decline after having been on the increase since the FDR administration. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 956.58 (+5.87, +0.62%)
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 7, 1973 | 950.71 | 110.53 | 12.50 |
| May 4, 1973 | 953.97 | 111.00 | 19.51 |
| May 3, 1973 | 945.67 | 110.22 | 17.76 |
| May 2, 1973 | 932.34 | 108.43 | 14.38 |
| May 1, 1973 | 921.21 | 107.10 | 15.38 |
| April 30, 1973 | 921.43 | 106.97 | 14.82 |
| April 27, 1973 | 922.19 | 107.23 | 13.73 |
| April 26, 1973 | 937.76 | 108.89 | 16.21 |
| April 25, 1973 | 930.54 | 108.34 | 15.96 |
| April 24, 1973 | 940.77 | 109.99 | 13.83 |