DOWNLOADS: 57

PLAYS: 41

Embed

First off - President Reagan was getting ready to give his first press conference since November of '86. And since that one was such a nightmare, he was going into serious overtime rehearsing his appearance before the Fourth Estate, making sure no gaffes would come back to haunt him.

And for good reason; the Iran-Contra scandal was burned into everyone's consciousness and it showed no signs of letting up. Even vice-President Bush was fending off inquiries over a $1,000 contribution made by financier/pop-maven Adnan Khashoggi, who claimed the elder Bush was twisting arms like pretzels in search of cash for the Contras.

However, that didn't stop Congress from approving yet another $40 million outlay for the Contras, seeing as Reagan was holding the Veto card over everyone's head if they dared say no.

And to make sure things were going smoothly, the CIA was found to be supplying the Contras with maps and blueprints of all the dams, power systems and ports in helped put together in Nicaragua, just to be safe.

In other news, newly disgraced former White House aide Michael Deaver was trying desperately to stay out of jail, even though all signs were pointing to it. Seems his influence peddling was getting the best of him no matter what he was trying. The House passed the 65 mph speed limit with 55 mph advocates painting dire pictures of highway littered with bodies as the result.

And Bristol-Myers was optimistic that it may have developed an AIDS vaccine and wanted Capitol Hill permission to start testing it on humans.

And that's what March 19th sounded like in 1987, as presented by The CBS World News Roundup.

DOWNLOADS: 59

PLAYS: 9

Embed

While Prime Minister Thatcher and President Reagan exchanged toasts and cordialities at a dinner hosted by the British Embassy in Washington, the rest of the world was going off on its own direction.

The Soviet newspaper Pravda labeled lies over reports from the State Department claiming Russia was sending arms to El Salvador. Had they known. . .

Meanwhile earlier, President Reagan asked for funds to reactivate two WW2 era Battleships, based on information the Soviet Navy was stepping up warship production. This, hot on the heels of Reagan presiding over additional government budget cuts to the tune of $10-13 Billion. A budget and Tax cut battle were heating up.

In the rest of the world - An Islamic Peace Mission landed in Tehran to try and settle the 6 month old Iran-Iraq War. Three British Missionaries were released from captivity by the Iranians. John and Audrey Coleman and Mrs. Gene Wadell were glad to be home. Still, there were more to worry about. Speaking of hostages, the Basque Separatists ETA released hostages snatched from the consuls of Austria, El Salvador and Uruguay after 8 days of captivity.

Domestically - violence was threatening to loom between Vietnamese and American Shrimp fishermen in the Texas Gulf Coast. The Vietnamese were reported to be stocking up on arms for protection and the Americans were seen at various KKK meetings, espousing the virtues of immigrant bashing. The Shrimp had no opinion one way or the other, and no doubt preferred they just went away.

And so went this rather skewed February 28, 1981 as reported on the CBS World News Roundup.