Washington Week In Review

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he's a possible new top story tonight do you that evening the state department kept the hopeful outlook this week as middle east peace prospects took a turn for the worse president nixon apparently made some personnel changes as he continued to deal with his watergate and fewer crises the economic impact of that energy crisis was becoming clearer this week but not writer and in the congress john ford movie another step closer to becoming the vice president here tonight to talk about these and other stories we have neil macneil chief congressional correspondent for time magazine eileen shanahan economics correspondent for the new york times it was igor washington bureau chief for the chicago daily news and marilyn berger diplomatic correspondent for the washington post how

concerned would you say is the state department about a recurrence of fighting in the middle east i think they're remarkably and concern this week when the talks broke down a kilometer one a one way the egyptians were talking to the israelis ah when i first heard about it i'm quite concerning called up and they said no this will have nothing no impact on the forthcoming negotiations which they still hopeful take place in geneva on december eighteenth the israelis think the egyptians broke it off because they want the egyptians want the united states to bring pressure on israel to make a compromise the israeli army the egyptians say that the israelis renege on a deal that they have proposed but they in the state department i think the pressures towards peace are greater than the pressures towards a while in the royal square pigeon lovers anne something's happened in the middle east and there is a feeling in both that in both israel and in egypt there is a desire to make a

settlement in israel this week we saw the labor party have a meeting in the hawks the golden ear wing of the party survive but hardly at the price of their own politicians' they came out talking about defensible borders not secure borders on the arab side they had a summit and they talk about going into negotiations six years ago they were talking about no negotiations no recognition know peace and you had heavy were people saying recognizing israel's here to stay but mormonism there's something more involved in the square kilometer wanna one situation no longer now in military problem the disengagement they've gone into the strategic area they're really talking about grand political lines and there's not necessarily throw it into the first meetings of the geneva negotiations if they come to pass that's the israeli position they are not talking about just taking these forces and putting a little bit of sand between them they're talking about real goals a spoiled and this takes a higher political decision now there are some indications the israelis are ready to

talk about this to discuss it but i think they want to see it move up to another level there's a possibility they just don't want to do it i ran away and they have their elections yeah i love that though that this could be done without elections coming this doesn't have to await the election that you're really talking about a disengagement forces about what about the egyptians know why that's the israelis position puts the egyptian position on the disengagement i think they're anxious to have that settled a kilometer wanna one before they go to geneva everyone is making a price to go to geneva whether it's the real price so whether it's a bargaining position at this point we don't know what the egyptians are saying it should be disengagement that the jordanians are saying no palestinians were the seat and nobody's invited the palestinians with a c and the israelis are saying let's just take it easy and talk about it when we get there is anybody making any progress on the air on the embargo from well that's another place where the state department is hopeful state farm has waving very hopeful on a lot of things and in this one they're failing is if you're off and show some sign of progress

the conservative oil rich arab states who want very much to turn your back on may do so now we haven't heard from the only jerk states at the moment they are telling us on the strange sometimes the syllable turn it off alternate on a little bit and we're at their mercy now and they say there just today output of writer other social security bill that would prohibit the sale of american drilling equipment to any nation it's limiting their oil exports to us how it that to affect the wealthiest imports of saudi arabia are mainly for that kind of technological equipment and therefore could have a very serious effect if they needed more drilling equipment i don't know that feeling goodman wears out very quickly and if they're turning down the spigot they might not need as much but the curious thing is that the technological equipment that we have is exactly what the russians are after all so well let me ask a question about the overall prospects he's kelly is israelis give up to the arabs what the arabs are really demanding and some of these areas that the

cities of such an emotional content that they seem to be unwilling to let them fall into them well i think probably the war has given the lesson that no borders are absolutely secure the israelis have never said they would hold on the other hand they whether they would how much they would be able to give up i don't know but there's a real feeling that i sense in israel one general told me that he went out to the front of an eighteen year old kid looked at and said general is this our last war and he said you know we've got a chat with these kids they were the ones who suffered the most in a lot of people said israel is a world in which the old one out and declared war in the old for that well what what will this geneva conference be like do you think would be a lot of petty squabbling you think you will open end quickly or go on for months and when cesar and we're speculating out some way of describing what this event will be like well i think at best it will be a long term conference i do think that the

beginning to be a lot like the vietnam thing it many of you remember that it's not have been enormous publicity to have foreign ministry to have kissinger and pretty girl in the bunk and the egyptian foreign minister the jordanian foreign minister are you have a big ceremonial opening you have the secretary general of course then it is sad they will be sub committees in egypt and israel will negotiate anti israel and jordan will negotiate and hopefully syria and so that's an unconditional about israel as saying that syria must give up the prisoners before a lot about syria now whether the arabs will permit such direct talks without someone sitting in the room i don't know but this is a tremendous show the world historical is overused but this is really a tremendous historical event this is the first time in twenty five or so years that these people are admitting evidence that he's worried about a lot of luggage aboard in this country you wrote being because of the oil changed

even when he was here said you know the american people have their feeling for their country and they're going to say it's not the fault of the israelis they have a certain sense of values doubt at what he said because it was coming from the israeli foreign minister but that i've heard from congressman they're getting letters that say it's they are companies that that to us towards the government that the new plan it's not the israelis so i don't know let's come back home for our problems watergate still seem to be having a corrosive effect here at the white house this week what was going on there are you know the whole thing may get left out of court as so those and i mean that literally there are so many signs of confusion and disarray at the white house and the signs have multiplied in recent days because what is going on in judge to recuse court it's a confusing mystifying situation nobody is clear or who's the chief watergate council now collapsed and no one's claire why rosemary words are still separated brain freeze more than twenty years had to go out and

hire her own counsel the white house counsel wouldn't that wouldn't represent her in new york she seemed to me to be cut address from the white house and spectators and the court were treated to the spectacle of the lawyer squabbling among themselves ms woods lawyer accusing the white house familiar with having rehearsed ms woods which he testified first on november eighth and one of things to be terribly unsettled by all this the kind of cannibalism that ended that they're now cutting as one ford reported cutting the job of cutting him off at the knees and they said the day that he remained to watergate council but yesterday they suggested that he made the often get lost because of it of mistakes he's made because the status that he'd been overworking in a weakened interpret what that means kind of layer of art and they're also picking on the special no special watergate prosecutor mr jaworski

they say they're taking on the staff but earlier in the week today his office of leaking to particular stories that were supposed to be unusually embarrassing to the president now the press secretary's elusive nature jaworski of the fairmont man but it's just that he inherited from archibald cox which have a vessel of this flight the administration it happens that mr jaworski hair sprays that step for its competency its dedication so when i would mention the master's degree he said well he may like it but i'd like this like this then so all the staff incidentally are prosecutors doing what they do about the tensions within the news that the white house sees this group of security now us in their work because their belief the liberal democrats are taken out of the crocs kennedy school so to speak well after that we give an update is over as the general political judgment that the testimony judge to reduce carbon will go

on next week and that the big event next week will be the appearance of the president's new chief of staff alexander haig its judges court but the wicked been so full of contradictions the mysteries about the tapes in the eighteen minutes a deeper and rosemary was so she erased five minutes there's thirteen minutes and ration unaccounted for now we're back biting within the white house among the lawyers and a dollar ninety nine judgment most politicians here to set the president's campaign operation candor is campaign appearance help of all these charges and suspicions that send back data measured they get me and that led to a court look at seven letters i've read is that possible in virginia i think it's become so ridiculous the whole thing to come forward because to the tape saying sounds like oh my family who'd written the script for a marx brothers comedy it's like spaghetti running all through the sort of an important and that of the court as being told the

truth neumann most serious turns and i gather that one gut feeling is that it wasn't so much the white house lawyers wouldn't defenders of these words that you want what all around it was no question of her wanting to linger on general haig told her that the white house counsel would not read not represented by her own testimony their own lawyer now ironically she got as her lawyer a former student that roommate or at least he was at duke university of sin and the president was a longtime friend of mr nixon chairman of one of those election for president committee former president american bar association charles ryan is representing aaron korth sitting apart from the white house was deliberately allen and it's really a sad because aq that firearm so you say as the body because the point is that you're right there's perjury involved in the situation so i've become so totally ridiculous people what i was referring to his

maximum you try on that time that the judgment of the people with the things that should raise a far superior force does anyone in the white house believe that i think i find it difficult to find them find any reasonable minded man in the whole of the united states levy i wanted to ask you speaking of who the lawyers are working for the present about this illinois i think appeals court judge sullivan is that is named i r i gather he's both been working without pay but is there in east they're back in illinois about them and attaching himself ramon i mentioned the state of david's that's there's a question about whether judge sullivan is that heroine in violation of some illinois law because he sits on the appellate court bank is down there working in the executive branch of the government without compensation and they say in an administrative way to organize this move staff if they really can find lawyers who are willing to take on this case i mean i really don't know what it

indicates that you know that indicates this the race some chaos in an awful lot of confusion about what is the size of the president's legal status working on this impossible to work to know we know that a chaplain rose who was in the eisenhower administration the cleveland well you know tax specialist please nonsense we're gonna get residents to services of philadelphia lawyer or to a special effect that more potent i do which shows you how little we all know about that i think that that often the fact that the latest two additions to the white house legal staff are both men whose whole life has been in tax law at a time we're all that the president's tax returns public isn't okay i mean you have the floor now your question is the various companies were laying off the police with airlines general motors

ford would barely because of the energy crisis and how bad are the economists think that this is going to get wealthier soya course as far as the auto industry goes the layoffs are principally related to the peculiar fact that nowadays we can make more big trades that we can sell and we could sell more small cars then we'll be able to make still some of those plans haven't converted ire line is a straight out result the course of the reduction in the available jet fuel because of the oil shortage so that data well each has its impact on employment they're not kind of fundamental impacts in a way we have this weight just as of yesterday the administration's official analysis of the economic impact of the fuel shortage and it's a rather restrained okay on one level up to not too close to six percent sometime next year are which is terrible it means a million for more unemployed than we have now but it's not the kind of disaster that we heard the oscars street they're predicting and still hear some problems for

people predicting i'm the report are their analysis which is based there was based on a real analytical job and not off the top of the head stuff is very close to what the other private analyses have been given a bad for the ones that were not just throw off their head bit some of a wilder ones her time like we would sit around the nerve argue about where the redskins are going like for the super bowl and we might have more information about some of the people who were making the alleged that these really strange economic statement but there's a real analysis is very close to some a private economist economic forecast and what it basically says is yeah you bet there will be some downturn in the economy or slow down but not in the us sales to remain stable and to what was already going to be a recession or a near recession next year making it from one word but not disastrously self i mean you seem to accept this analysis do you believe that well of course they cast of economic advisors

satirist present managers got a superman history on its their predictions both a special price died but just in general i have a lot of suspicion in the back of my head that rainy day did make their forty or so close to the privates for here so if it turns out to be really sour they can say well we were no but we were right up there with ida wick stein a democrat and so and so and the word school and and what have you i have some reservations i also found out what the real some real numbers were in the internal exercise they get in there just a little bit different and different little different but the crucial thing in the difference is that the real internal exercise showed more of a downturn that would come out the oil embargo that was already in the current adolescent that result of the oil embargo than they're officials then what about the seventeen percent unemployment figure we've been hearing that does not go under your while prediction center by while critics as witty writer i think zero if only because there is no

administration however conservative administration much more economically conservative and this one would act long before week even approached ten percent by wayne is there any sense of direction from the white house on the day the economy and be on what really to do about the energy shortage i don't know and you can't find out the number of people who would actually know the extent to which the president is involved in the discussions would be very small shields morton lot and those top level people won't say they didn't lose my school speeches about how the president's actively involved in the press and for details on which means things that soaked within the clam up i simply was the business community think about they think they're that they're going to get some firm direction and some foreign policy decision they didn't touch a lot of this land press play lightly but i have a sense of that there was no nothing close to a monolithic vs but i understand your moral of the story that there was no way to have a russian

users such as does the government now have such tools that i can really make it a mission impossible thing i went through for fuel to what happened plunging is the south you know my reason the fact for a very festive friendly for it it does is an awesome i don't know until i'm proved wrong right i think felt i think our ability to engage in monumentally large government spending is enough to counteract that i also think if you look back through your economic history that the kind of things that normally course business downturns what safeguards recession's the olympic was the pressure eases the money and and that's wyatt well i hate it of that party yes i think it's impossible in general i just believe that we could move and would move long before we got to leave and ten sixty six a half percent i

analyze episodes why is the impact of the oil embargo so great that we just using this we were going to have an energy shortage anyway and there are some figures that say what we really losing is while it's twelve percent of our oil it's only six percent of our total energy because we don't get all our energy product i think there's fifteen little high nobody knows for sure and nor do we know for sure i have some skepticism about whether there was an interview shortly before we know things about they're matters of public here official record of bad for sedation by the oil companies or the gas companies and then gas resources these are the same companies by march there are major oil producer so what we were really headed for it energy shortage in the chevron runs another matter without the embargo i'm just not sure but i think it's a real narrow view of ourselves way to respond maybe your friends in the middle east

the senate just a few fall to the head of the senate and gerald ford's nomination to be vice president what would you say is the political significance of that of well the fourth nomination in a little well meaning who only three votes in the house committee and consider this hearing has also uprooted by a wide margin that have the house vote this coming week two proven there's no question of the room and he will be inaugurated as the first president and the vice president the twenty fifth amendment immediately what happens then i think is that there is something that the democrats in congress especially have been very anxious to get ahead in line for the succession to the presidency and the legitimate successor not only a republican but a man who fundamentally agrees with president nixon the mandate of last year

on both domestic and foreign and defense policy effect of that politically cincinnati to shake a little bit of a hesitation will be there and the support of the congress and looking at the president in terms of removing him from office in terms of the republican party's leaders in effect going to the white house demanding his resignation a little bit more speculation that this sort of thing may happen fairly soon republicans in another area in question the president's tenure of office republicans are becoming increasingly unhappy there have been unhappy for a long time with the president's handling of the war gives some homeowners who had the only

explanation of the eighteen minute gap that was not too big woven around a case where the court will have some kind of explanation one ousted an economy the fighting and talking about this part of her president of her the republicans that increase the lack of support and oppose a single family last to the fun of the republican's particular becoming more and more in tents were conscious and they're about to enter an election year and they see themselves having this albatross watergate hung around the next whether opponents are getting increasingly anxious about it mayor menino creature think just the

other day yesterday that there is not a majority vote to impeach in the house at this time he did set and secondly senators anywhere near a two thirds vote in the senate to convict him about writing a little book that i use anyone's foreigners can find that this region will change and this is one of the elements that i think is continuing to bring increasing pressure within congress because this puts a legitimate successor i'm told that one congressman after another among the democrats kept saying yes look at ford as vice president that he maybe the next president and that no republican raised his voice against this kind of tall and this is in the same committee that is standing on that issue as well in the beginning the beginning of the senate hearing it was an announcement

by both parties as potentially the next president united states he was so question he was questioned closely on how he would act as president and hollywood treat congress where you get advice on his competition did you did you mention the possibility of what you were saying a minute ago about republican leaders going to the president demanding is that there is a problem is at those areas there's a lot of speculation that their republican leaders of the senate and as i read were simply enraged at what happened at the saturday night massacre they have not quieted down to a degree with the operation can now you have a sense of what the failure of that operation to be very candid with force and when most of that hostility growing within the republican leadership itself and i think this group is extremely important because of extremely dangerous connection with the tournament and it cost them because that had been cut off a very upset by

the people who were advising the president may see the president being advised by nobody except general haig as press secretary and that to them is not adequate they want men like claire gillette is leading men who understand politics to understand the impact of what happened and how they view the us the senate republican lawyer emphasizing republican senate republicans set the terms of the wasp his office although most of their bases to the president they insisted he'd be independent they insisted on guarantees they insisted that that the congressional leaders oversight over him in case he and dismissal reading i get is that true was we can get nothing from the congress to accept apple support hundred percent with thank you for joining us back again next week with another washington week interview i

mean the no as a production of them but the vision of a greater washington educational telecommunications association so demanding