NBC Nightly News open - 1977-05-03

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] WSMTV Nashville.

[0:03] >> This is NBC Nightly News with John

[0:05] Chancellor and David Brinkley. Tonight,

[0:08] Tuesday, May 3rd, reported from the NBC

[0:11] News Center in New York.

[0:14] Good evening. Today, the US and Vietnam

[0:17] met officially in Paris and talked of

[0:19] opening normal diplomatic relations. The

[0:22] last time the two countries had any

[0:24] official dealings with each other, they

[0:25] were shooting at each other. But it was

[0:28] all smiles and handshakes and friendly

[0:30] remarks at the Vietnam embassy in Paris

[0:32] today. And it seemed fairly well agreed

[0:35] that pretty soon they will have an

[0:36] embassy in Washington with an American

[0:39] embassy in Hanoi. Here's John Palmer in

[0:42] Paris. It was 9 years ago this week that

[0:45] the United States and Vietnamese

[0:47] negotiators first met in Paris. But

[0:49] unlike those earlier sessions, this

[0:52] meeting was at least outwardly cordial.

[0:54] Assistant Secretary of State Richard

[0:56] Hullbrook, head of the six-man American

[0:58] delegation, was greeted at the door of

[1:00] the Vietnamese embassy by Fam Pien,

[1:03] Hanoi's chief negotiator.

[1:06] The Vietnamese want the United States to

[1:08] approve Vietnam's application for UN

[1:10] membership, drop its trade embargo, and

[1:13] make good on the Nixon administration's

[1:15] promise to spend $3.5 billion in war

[1:18] reparations for the reconstruction of

[1:20] Vietnam.

[1:22] After meeting for three and a half

[1:24] hours, the US delegation left the

[1:26] building saying only that the talks had

[1:28] been frank, friendly, and useful.

[1:30] Another session is scheduled for

[1:32] tomorrow.

[1:34] Despite the willingness of both

[1:36] countries to reach agreement, the

[1:38] negotiators are apt to have a difficult

[1:40] time because the memories of the war are

[1:42] still fresh, both for the Americans and

[1:45] for the Vietnamese.

[1:47] John Palmer, NBC News, Paris.

[1:50] It's being said in Paris this evening

[1:52] that in order to set up diplomatic

[1:53] relations swiftly, both sides have

[1:55] agreed to postpone the questions of the

[1:58] MIAs and the pledge of American economic

[2:00] assistance. That pledge was made in 1973

[2:03] by Richard Nixon, who promised to pay up

[2:05] to three and a4 billion dollars for

[2:08] Vietnam reconstruction. The Carter

[2:10] administration says it is not bound by

[2:12] the pledge and a senior official of the

[2:15] previous administration today fully

[2:17] supported the Carter position. Jackson

[2:19] Bane has the story.

[2:22] >> Former Secretary of State Henry

[2:23] Kissinger told the US Chamber of

[2:25] Commerce today that one item that should

[2:27] not be considered in the Paris talks

[2:29] with the Vietnamese is American aid to

[2:31] Vietnam. And I think it is absolutely

[2:34] absurd for the North Vietnamese to claim

[2:38] that they have a right to American

[2:41] economic aid,

[2:44] having broken every

[2:47] provision of the of the agreement which

[2:51] we signed with them in January team.