May 23, 1969

press conf; conf called unusual (deals with Nixon's reasons for picking Judge Burger for Chief Justice and reasons why he passed over others); is held in Nixon's White House office; conf is 1st of its kind between him and newsmen and he requests that he not be quoted directly

BLS regional dir H Bienstock says higher mortgage interest rates, while having short-term inflationary impact, should help curb inflation over long run

flies in lunar module to within 9.4 mi of lunar surface

prominent Repub leaders, including associates of Nixon, were aware in Sept '68 of a potentially explosive relationship between Fortas and Wolfson but did not regard their information as detailed or conclusive enough to inject it into controversy over Fortas nomination as Chief Justice or to make it an issue in Pres campaign; information formed basis for warning passed to Sen Javits, seeking re-election, to avoid close identification with Fortas in his campaign; Sec Rogers says he was aware early in campaign of Fortas-Wolfson involvement, int; says he does not recall whether he told it to Nixon but is certain he did not inform Mitchell, then Nixon campaign mgr; J A Wells, Javits' campaign mgr at that time, says he advised his campaign co-dir not to go too far in defending Fortas, int; discrepancies in various versions of information passed to Javits hq noted; Javits notes he had rejected a request from Wolfson to 'expose the injustice' in his case and told Wolfson's daughter that he could not help him

Comr Thrower orders IRS to place strict construction on tax law requirements that orgns be operated 'exclusively' for educ and other tax-exempt purposes if they are to retain their exemption; says he is concerned about 'ideological orgns'

transcript of comments by Stafford and Cernan as they drew closer to moon in module

mission planners disappointed at postponement of plans to establish unmanned TV station on moon to televise blastoff of lunar module; operational and scientific value of such pictures discussed; Manned Spacecraft Center officials hope camera designed to work in hostile lunar environment will record Armstrong's historic 1st step on moon

co files regis statement for pub offering of 800,000 shares at about $30 a share in defiance of NYSE rule barring pub ownership of member firms

BLS Consumer Price Index at 126.4, Apr, up 0.6%, bringing annual rate for last 3 mos to 7.6%, more than in any full yr since '51; graph; table

controversy is developing in Nixon Adm over how to maintain battlefield pressure on enemy without arousing pol reaction in US over high Amer casualty rates; Laird, in answer to criticism of US comdrs by civilian officials, says enemy has stepped up pace of war while putting forward peace proposals

The Blue Cross asked the State Department of Insurance yesterday to approve a rise of 49.5 per cent in its hospitalization insurance rates.