("The Olive Has Been Talking . . . ")

It seems wiretapping has been a popular subject in legal circles for quite some time, if this special edition of Meet The Press from November 17, 1957 is any indication. This roundtable discussion features New York State Supreme Court Justice Miles McDonald, District Attorney of Richmond County New York John Braisted and the infamous Roy Cohn on the subject of the use or misuse of the Fifth Amendment and the use and misuse of wiretaps.

All interesting stuff, considering it's 1957 and the world seemed much simpler then . . .or not.

Nearing the end of the almost endless and infamous Army-McCarthy Hearings, this installment of the drama comes from June 15, 1954. The daily wrapup, with George Herman and Griffing Bancroft of CBS Radio, encapsulates the day-long hearings into a half-hour program which ran at 10:00 pm every evening.

This installment winds down the proceedings and features, among others, cross-examination of McCarthy Aide Francis Carr and McCarthy Chief Council Roy Cohn. Anticipated for the next (and possibly last) day was Joe McCarthy. Everything on this day went smoothly and, with the exception of the Press being distracted by a disturbance elsewhere in the building, was pretty humdrum by comparison with other days.

No fireworks and no wild accusations, but theater nonetheless.

Here is that daily wrapup from CBS Radio for June 15, 1954.

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Looking at local news for this April 20th in 1964. From New York, nerves were on edge and appeals were being sought for the upcoming massive Civil Rights Protests, slated to go on opening day of the New York World's Fair, April 22nd.

The New York Supreme Court weighed in with a "no" to CORE and other Civil Rights groups for permission to stage the protest, but they were pledged to go on anyway, no matter what.

President Johnson narrowly missed a convergence of the Elderly during his brief visit to New York. The demonstration was in favor of pending Medicare legislation, which Johnson was championing. In light of other protests directed towards him, he may have wanted to stick around to hear the support.

In other news, mostly regarding the goings-on in New York - a new poll released showed support for the Presidential candidacy of Nelson Rockefeller in the upcoming 1964 election was slim at best. Not a good sign from home turf, to say the least.

McCarthy-era Attorney Roy Cohn was scheduled for a new date and a second Conspiracy and Perjury Trial as the first one was declared a mistrial the day before.

And it was disclosed a tentative $210 million dollar New York School budget for 1965-1966 was coming up for approval. Back when education was important.

And what is news from New York without news of Broadway? News of openings and closings and an interview with Mr. and Mrs. Richard Burton.

And that's how it, and a lot of other news, rolled in The Big Apple on this April 20th in 1964, from WNBC's 6:30 New York News Special.