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.