April 28, 1972

April 28: Vietnam peace talks resume in Paris on Apr 27 after they were suspended by US on Mar 23; session described as 'fruitless', but prospect for secret talks between US and N Vietnam appear firmer; Hanoi's spokesman Nguyen Minh Vy announces that Le Due Tho will return to Paris shortly but notes there will probably be private meetings; Amer side refuses to comment on private sessions, but expresses interest in what Tho might have to offer; chief Amer negotiator W J Porter cites hope that Tho will have more to offer than was offered during session; opens talks with proposal that N Vietnam agree to end invasion and commence withdrawal of N Vietnamese troops from S Vietnam; says he is ready to meet again next wk but warns it will not be practical to hold meetings if N Vietnam continues to refuse to deal with substance of present invasion and gen problems of peace, including prisoners of war and those missing in action; Hanoi's negotiator Xuan Thuy charges Vietnam problem is problem of US aggression and Vietnamese people fighting against aggression; holds US claim about invasion of S Vietnam by N Vietnam is absurd; demands that US honor its '68 commitment to halt bombing of N, abandon Vietnamization program and respond to Vietcong's 7-point peace program; warns US will be defeated by rigorous counter-thrusts of Vietnamese people if US continues to help build up S Vietnamese forces, maintain Pres Nguyen Van Thieu in power and escalate attacks on North; questions whether US is prepared to halt these actions; agrees to meet during following wk to hear his answer; Amer spokesman S Ledogar, commenting on whether US will boycott talks again if it gets same answers in next wk's talks, says US will make judgment at that time; Porter, Xuan Thuy, Mrs Nguyen Thi Binh and Pham Dang Lam illus

lr on ITT antitrust controversy holds Kleindienst's nomination to become Atty Gen should not be approved until Kleindienst's testimony that he was not involved in Justice Dept's settlement is clarified

Price Comm exec dir P F Carpenter says nearly half of all major Amer corps have yet to comply with comm regulations requiring filing of qrly earnings repts, with May 1 as deadline, Apr 27 int; says 700 out of 1,600 Tier One cos have either not filed repts or filed inadequate ones; comm uses repts to determine if cos are complying with rules limiting profit margins to base period levels; base period is avg of best 2 of last 3 fiscal yrs of any co; Carpenter says comm is considering imposing more stringent sanctions against cos that violate reptg regulations; says one sanction under consideration is freezing of all prices; Price Comm orders 4 more cos to roll back their prices; Grayson, in Apr 27 s to Natl Press Club, expresses fear that controls might become permanent feature of Amer life; attributes outlook to feeling in individuals that 'we can't control ourselves any more'

GM repts record $651-million net income, 1st qr, 6.6% above '71 qr; says it will not cut prices on cars; refusal could bring GM into conflict with US Price Comm, which has been pushing in recent wks for price rollbacks as corps rept sharp profit gains; co says cost of next fall's new cars will be up substantially because of safety and emission-control equipment

April 28: (Muskie Withdraws--Penna & Mass Primary Results--Dem Aspirants' Activities) Sen Muskie, on Apr 27, withdraws from active campaigning for Dem Pres nomination by declaring that his strategy of running everywhere has failed and that as result, he does not have money to continue, news conf, Washington; insists that he is not withdrawing completely but acknowledges his decision 'reduces my prospects' and tells his supporters they should reassess their commitments; Muskie's remarks imply hope that Dem Natl Conv will turn to him after failing to agree on any active contender but neither Muskie nor his staff members expresses confidence this will occur; Muskie's move lessens possibility that he will have large bloc of supporters among conv delegates, minimizing chances that deadlock will occur; most of Muskie's active supporters, comprised of Sens, Govs and already elected delegates, say they will continue to back Muskie at least for time being; Sen Tunney has given up plans to campaign for Muskie but says he retains his conviction that Muskie is best Dem choice for Pres; Sens Hart and Bayh say they will continue to back Muskie; situation in Mich could be affected by decision of UAW pres Woodcock, Muskie's most prominent labor backer; Woodcock and some of his aides reptdly prefer McGovern but early endorsement seen unlikely; big-name Muskie supporters in gen seen using Muskie's new strategy as shelter to avoid making new commitments until after more primaries are held; when he ended his candidacy, Muskie had 134.5 committed delegate votes; some delegates seen retaining their commitments to Muskie at least for time being; Muskie's move does not appear to give any immediate advantage to either Sen McGovern or Humphrey; Humphrey, McGovern and Gov Wallace comment on move; McGovern gets backing on Apr 27 of Sen Harris, Muskie delegate and Iowa Chmn C Larson, Calif Dem Natl Committeeman S Reinhard and Ariz Dem Chmn H Ely; Sen Ribicoff is expected to back McGovern on Apr 28; McGovern is expected to get Muskie campaign execs T Podesta and J Johnson; Ohio and Calif primaries now seen decisive; if no decisive trend develops, pressure will continue to build on Sen Kennedy to become candidate; Kennedy reiterated his intention not to do so again on Apr 27 and he reptdly may back Sen McGovern before conv; Chicago Mayor Daley announces that Kennedy will be main speaker at Cook County Dem orgn dinner on May 24; says he detects sentiment for Kennedy draft