Watergate: High Crimes in the White House (2022) Movie Script

Secretary: MR. COLSON
MR. PRESIDENT.
President Richard Nixon:
YEAH.
Charles Colson: YES, SIR, MR.
PRESIDENT.
Nixon: I REALLY GOT TO TEND
TO THE BUSINESS OF THE COUNTRY,
YOU KNOW.
I'M TRYING TO KEEP PEOPLE
FROM KEEPING ME OUT OF THE
GODDAMN THING BECAUSE I KNOW
NOTHING ABOUT IT.
Colson: I THINK YOU SHOULD
KEEP OUT OF THIS, MR. PRESIDENT.
THE BIGGEST NEGATIVE TO THE
WATERGATE, IN MY MIND,
EVENTUALLY IT'S GOING TO
COME OUT.
THERE'S TOO DAMN MANY PEOPLE
INVOLVED.
Nixon: OH, SURE, THE
WHOLE GODDAMN STORY'S GOING TO
COME OUT.
Mike Wallace: EXPLAIN
SOMETHING TO ME, WILL YOU,
MR. EHRLICHMAN?
BREAKING AND ENTERING,
WIRETAPPING...
Bob Woodward: FIVE BURGLARS.
BUSINESS SUITS.
$100 BILLS IN THEIR POCKETS.
Walter Cronkite: ...CAUGHT IN
THE ACT OF BURGLARIZING AND
BUGGING DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS
IN WASHINGTON.
Nixon: I HAD NO PRIOR
KNOWLEDGE OF THE WATERGATE
BREAK-IN.
Cronkite: ...BUT THE EPISODE
GREW STEADILY MORE SINISTER...
Wallace: ...CONSPIRACY TO
COMMIT KIDNAPPING, DESTRUCTION
OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS...
John Dean: I REMEMBER WELL
HIS INSTRUCTIONS.
HE TOLD ME TO SHRED THE
DOCUMENTS AND "DEEP SIX" THE
BRIEFCASE.
Alexander Butterfield: IWAS, IN MANY WAYS, A CESSPOOL.
Wallace: ...SECRET SLUSH
FUNDS, LAUNDERING MONEY IN
MEXICO, PAYOFFS TO SILENCE
WITNESSES...
Nixon: YOU COULD GET A
MILLION DOLLARS.
AND YOU COULD GET IT IN CASH.
I KNOW WHERE IT COULD BE GOTTEN.
Stahl: NIXON WAS DARK AND
PARANOID.
HE TRIED TO USE THE F.B.I.
HE TRIED TO USE THE C.I.A.
Woodward: IT IS A LEVEL OF
UNIMAGINABLE CORRUPTION.
Carl Bernstein: IT WAS
INTENDED TO UNDERMINE THE VERY
BASIS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY:
FREE AND UNFETTERED ELECTIONS.
Wallace: ...SPYING BY
UNDERCOVER AGENTS, PLANS TO
FIREBOMB A BUILDING, CONSPIRACY
TO OBSTRUCT JUSTICE...
Hugh Sloan: IT'S A CAUTIONARY
TALE, AND I THINK IT'S ONE OF
THE REASONS YOU'RE STILL TALKING
ABOUT IT 50 YEARS LATER.
Wallace: ...ALL OF THIS BY
THE LAW-AND-ORDER ADMINISTRATION
OF RICHARD NIXON.
John Ehrlichman: IS THERE A
QUESTION IN THERE SOMEWHERE?
John Ehrlichman: IS THERE A
QUESTION IN THERE SOMEWHERE?
Richard Nixon: AMERICA IS IN
TROUBLE TODAY, NOT BECAUSE HER
PEOPLE HAVE FAILED, BUT BECAUSE
HER LEADERS HAVE FAILED.
AND WHAT AMERICA NEEDS ARE
LEADERS TO MATCH THE GREATNESS
OF HER PEOPLE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
Stahl: EVERY COUPLE OF
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
Stahl: EVERY COUPLE OF
GENERATIONS, WE GET A MOMENT OF
SCANDAL...
Nixon: I SHALL RESIGN THE
PRESIDENCY, EFFECTIVE AT NOON
TOMORROW.
Stahl: LOSS OF CONFIDENCE IN
OUR LEADERSHIP, LOSS OF
CONFIDENCE OUR SYSTEM.
President Bill Clinton: I DID
NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH
THAT WOMAN, MS. LEWINSKY.
Dan Rather: THIS IS THE FIRSTIME AN ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES HAS BEEN IMPEACHED
BY THE HOUSE.
Stahl: THE PERSON AT THE TOP
INFECTS EVERYTHING BELOW.
President Donald Trump: OVER
THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, WE'VE
AMASSED OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE
ABOUT A FAKE ELECTION.
Stahl: WE'VE SEEN IT.
WE'VE SEEN IT RECENTLY, AND WE
LIVED THROUGH IT DURING
WATERGATE.
I CAME ALONG IN APRIL OF 1972--
BRAND NEW.
I HAD JUST STARTED.
TOMORROW, UNITED STATES PILOTS
WILL ASK THE INTERNATIONAL
PILOTS ASSOCIATION TO JOIN THEM
IN A WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT OF
COUNTRIES THAT HARBOR HIJACKERS.
LESLEY STAHL, CBS NEWS,
WASHINGTON.
THE WASHINGTON BUREAU OF CBS WAS
HUGE.
BUT, IT WAS ALSO THE MIDDLE OF
THE 1972 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN.
SO, MOST OF THE REPORTERS WERE
OUT COVERING CANDIDATES.
Reporter: IT IS THE CONSENSUS
OF REPUBLICAN OPINION HERE THARICHARD NIXON IS THE ONE WHO
WILL WIN THE NEW HAMPSHIRE
PRIMARY.
THE QUESTION IS, BY HOW MUCH?
Ted Kennedy: I'D LIKE TO
INTRODUCE THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES, GEORGE
McGOVERN!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
Stahl: IT'S JUNE 17, 1972.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
Stahl: IT'S JUNE 17, 1972.
THERE'S A CRACKLE OF NOISE ON
THE POLICE RADIOS THAT THERE'S A
BREAK-IN AT THE WATERGATE, ATHE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
HEADQUARTERS.
Charles Osgood: GOOD EVENING.
WE HAVE A MYSTERY STORY OUT OF
WASHINGTON.
FIVE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED
AND CHARGED WITH BREAKING INTO
THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE IN
THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
Stahl: VERY FEW NEWS
ORGANIZATIONS THOUGHT IREGISTERED AS A STORY AT ALL,
BUT CBS HAD A SORT OF SCENABOUT THIS.
THE ASSIGNMENT EDITOR SEIZES A
BREAK-IN AT THE NATIONAL
DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE.
HE LOOKS AROUND THE NEWSROOM,
THERE'S NO ONE.
SO HE SENDS THE NEW KID.
Daniel Schorr: POLICE
ARRESTED FIVE MEN IN THE
WATERGATE WITH BUGGING EQUIPMENAND COPYING CAMERAS.
George Herman: ARRESTED AGUNPOINT, THE MEN REFUSED TO
GIVE THEIR NAMES, OR TO SAY WHY
THEY HAD BROKEN IN.
THE FIVE MEN ALSO HAD ON THEM 11
CRISP NEW $100 BILLS, ALL WITH
CONSECUTIVE SERIAL NUMBERS, AS
THOUGH SOMEONE HAD GONE TO THE
BANK AND CASHED A LARGE CHECK
ALL IN $100 BILLS.
Angelo Lano: I WAS CALLED IN
AROUND 8:00 THAT MORNING.
THE ARRESTS HAD ALREADY BEEN
MADE.
I WOULD SAY THAT IT WAS NOT THE
BEST ORGANIZED BURGLARY.
THE QUESTION WAS, WHO ARE THESE
INDIVIDUALS?
SO, MY PARTNER AND I WENT TO THE
LOCKUP AND ATTEMPTED TO
INTERVIEW THE ARRESTEES, AND
THEY REFUSED TO SAY ANYTHING.
Stahl: THEY SENT ME TO THE
ARRAIGNMENT.
AS THE TESTIMONY WENT FORWARD,
YOU BECAME MORE AND MORE
SUSPICIOUS.
THERE WERE $100 BILLS WITH
CONSECUTIVE NUMBERS.
THESE GUYS WERE CUBANS.
YOU KEPT SITTING UP, THINKING,
"MY, THIS IS NOT JUST A
THIRD-RATE BURGLARY."
THERE WERE ONLY TWO OTHER
REPORTERS THERE.
I TURNED TO THE GUY FROM THE
"WASHINGTON POST" NEXT TO ME,
AND I KEPT SAYING "AM I HEARING
THIS RIGHT?"
AND HE SAID, "YOU ARE.
MY NAME IS BOB WOODWARD."
Woodward: I WAS ASLEEP, AND
I GOT A CALL FROM THE
"WASHINGTON POST" ON THIS
WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL SATURDAY
MORNING, JUNE 17, 1972.
SAID THERE HAD BEEN A BURGLARY
AT THE DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS.
COULD I COME IN?
Bernstein: I SAW ALL THIS
COMMOTION OUT AT THE CITY DESK
AND HEARD ABOUT THIS BREAK-IN ATHE DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS.
I SAID, THIS IS A BETTER STORY
THAN THE ONE I'M WORKING ON.
AND SO I TOLD-- I SAID TO THE
CITY EDITOR, WHAT IF I JUST MAKE
A FEW PHONE CALLS?
Lawrence O'Brien: THERE WERE
TAPS ON AT LEAST TWO TELEPHONES.
IT BECOMES CLEARER BY THE DAY
THAT A MOST SERIOUS CRIME HAS
BEEN COMMITTED.
Schorr: THIS FILE CABINEWAS FOUND WITH THE LOCK PICKED,
THE BAR THAT HOLDS THE CABINEIN PLACE LYING ON THE FLOOR, A
DRAWER OPEN.
Bernstein: THEY WANTED TO
KNOW WHAT WAS IN THE FILES.
THEY WANTED TO FIND OUEVERYTHING THEY COULD ABOUT THE
CAMPAIGN.
Woodward: THEY'D GONE IN IN
MAY, THE MONTH BEFORE, TO PLANEAVESDROPPING DEVICES.
IT WAS A BASIC NIXON OPERATION.
GET DIRT ON THE OTHER SIDE THACAN BE USED AS LEVERAGE.
Wallace: ONE OF THE MEN
APPREHENDED YESTERDAY WHILE
ALLEGEDLY ATTEMPTING TO BUG THE
OFFICES OF THE DEMOCRATIC
NATIONAL COMMITTEE IN WASHINGTON
HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE
SECURITY COORDINATOR FOR THE
PRINCIPAL REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE
TO RE-ELECT PRESIDENT NIXON.
Woodward: WHEN THE
ARRAIGNMENT JUDGE ASKED JAMES
McCORD, "WHERE DID YOU WORK?"
McCORD WENT...
AND THE JUDGE SAID, "SPEAK UP."
FINALLY, McCORD SAID "C.I.A.,"
AND I THINK I BLURTED OUT,
"HOLY ( BLEEP )."
Schorr: THE FIRST ARRESTS
WERE DISMISSED BY THE WHITE
HOUSE AS A MINOR INCIDENT.
THE WATERGATE AFFAIR BEGAN TO
LOOK LESS MINOR WHEN, ALONG
WITH THE FIVE, TWO OTHER MEN
WERE INDICTED WHO HAD ESCAPED
IMMEDIATE ARREST.
G. GORDON LIDDY, FINANCE COUNSEL
TO THE NIXON CAMPAIGN
ORGANIZATION, EX-F.B.I.,
EX-TREASURY, EX-WHITE HOUSE
CONSULTANT;
AND E. HOWARD HUNT JR., EX-
C.I.A., EX-BAY OF PIGS PLANNER,
EX-WHITE HOUSE CONSULTANT.
Woodward: THERE WAS THIS
ENTRY IN THE ADDRESS BOOKS OF
THE WATERGATE BURGLARS.
"H.HUNT-DASH-W.HOUSE."
SO I CALLED THE WHITE HOUSE AND
ASKED FOR H. HUNT, WHO TURNED
OUT TO BE HOWARD HUNT.
I SAID, "HOW IS IT THAT YOUR
NAME AND PHONE NUMBER IS IN THE
ADDRESS BOOKS OF TWO OF THE
BURGLARS CAUGHT AT THE
WATERGATE?"
AND HUNT SCREAMED OUT, "GOOD
GOD," HUNG UP THE PHONE AND
LEFT TOWN.
H.R. Haldeman: THE BIG FLAP
OVER THE WEEKEND HAS BEEN NEWS
A GROUP OF FIVE PEOPLE HAVE
BEEN CAUGHT BREAKING INTO THE
DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS.
THE REAL PROBLEM HERE IS WHETHER
ANYTHING IS TRACEABLE TO GORDON
LIDDY.
Wallace: HALDEMAN WAS THE
GATEKEEPER FREQUENTLY CRITICIZED
FOR ISOLATING THE PRESIDENT.
HE ONCE SAID, "EVERY PRESIDENNEEDS AN S.O.B., AND I'M
NIXON'S."
Haldeman: THE PRESIDENT WAS
CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT OUR
COUNTERATTACK IS, OUR P.R.
OFFENSIVE TO TOP THIS.
WE'VE GOT TO HOPE THAT THE
F.B.I. DOESN'T GO BEYOND THE
NECESSARY IN DEVELOPING
EVIDENCE, AND THAT WE CAN KEEP A
LID ON THAT.
Lano: PEOPLE WERE BEING
CALLED, QUESTIONED BY THE F.B.I.
WE DID THE JOB THAT WE WERE
ASKED TO DO, AND LET THE CHIPS
FALL WHERE THEY MAY.
AND IF IT LED TO THE WHITE
HOUSE, LET IT FALL.
E. Howard Hunt: I HAVE NO
COMMENT TO MAKE.
Stahl: AS WE GO THROUGH THE
VARIOUS MOMENTS IN THIS STORY...
Reporter: WHO POSTED YOUR
BOND, MR. McCORD?
Stahl: ...YOU GET THE SENSE
OF ONE REVELATION AFTER THE NEXTHAT'S EXPLOSIVE.
EACH ONE WAS A PEELING AWAY ANIXON.
IT WAS AS IF HE WAS COVERED IN
BAND-AIDS, AND WE WERE JUSRIPPING THEM OFF, ONE AFTER THE
NEXT.
Woodward: WATERGATE WAS NOABOUT THE BURGLARY.
Bernstein: THAT'S RIGHT.
Woodward: WATERGATE WAS ABOUA WHOLE CAMPAIGN OF SABOTAGE AND
ESPIONAGE, ABOUT COVER-UP, ABOUA WAR AGAINST THE PRESS-- A WAR
AGAINST THE SYSTEM OF JUSTICE.
Stahl: IT WAS A SUBVERSION OF
OUR DEMOCRACY.
Nixon: PEOPLE HAVE GOT TO
KNOW WHETHER OR NOT THEIR
PRESIDENT IS A CROOK.
WELL, I'M NOT A CROOK.
Stahl: HE SAID HE WASN'T A
CROOK.
BUT THAT WAS THE POINT.
HE WAS A CROOK.
THE CENTRAL MYSTERIES STILL
REMAIN: WHAT WERE THOSE MEN
AFTER AT THE WATERGATE?
WHO SENT THEM?
HOW WERE THEY PAID?
WHAT'S MAKING THE REPUBLICANS
NERVOUS IS, IT'S BEGINNING TO
LOOK AS THOUGH SOME MEMBERS OF
THE PRESIDENT'S RE-ELECTION
COMMITTEE MAY KNOW THE ANSWERS.
Nixon: SOME PUBLIC MEN
ARE DESTINED TO BE LOVED, AND
OTHER PUBLIC MEN ARE DESTINED
TO BE DISLIKED.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
ABOUT A PUBLIC MAN IS NOWHETHER HE'S LOVED OR DISLIKED,
BUT WHETHER HE'S RESPECTED.
AND I HOPE TO RESTORE RESPECT TO
THE PRESIDENCY.
WE WANT NIXON!
WE WANT NIXON!
Dwight Chapin: WHEN HE WAS
RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN THE
1968 PERIOD, THE NATION REALLY
WAS UNDERGOING ALL KINDS OF
STRESS AND STRAIN.
WE HAD, THAT YEAR, THE
ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER
KING.
WE HAD THE ASSASSINATION OF
BOBBY KENNEDY.
WE HAD FIRES IN THE MAJOR
CITIES, RIOTS.
I MEAN, IT WAS JUST UTTER
TURMOIL.
Nixon: LET'S MAKE AMERICA
FIRST AGAIN IN RESPECT FOR ORDER
AND JUSTICE UNDER LAW.
NOW ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU WANT?
ISN'T THAT WHERE WE'RE GOING TO
GO?
Chapin: I WAS THE PRESIDENT'S
APPOINTMENT SECRETARY.
I BELIEVE I KNEW HIM VERY WELL.
I'VE HEARD THAT TERM, THAT NIXON
WAS "AN INTROVERT IN AN
EXTROVERT'S JOB," AND I THINK
THERE'S A LOT OF TRUTH TO THAT.
Nixon: AS FAR AS THE CHARISMA
AND ALL THE P.R. TRICKS AND
EVERYTHING ELSE THAT'S SUPPOSED
TO MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A MATINEE
IDOL, FORGET IT.
IF THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT IN A
PRESIDENT, I'M NOT THE MAN.
Stahl: YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALL
COMPLICATED.
NONE OF US ARE ONE THING; WE'RE
FILLED WITH CONTRADICTIONS.
AND SO IS NIXON.
HE PUSHED FOR AND GOT PASTHINGS THAT WE CALL LIBERAL
TODAY.
( SINGING )
Stahl: THE ENVIRONMENTAL
MOVEMENT.
Nixon: CLEAN AIR, CLEAN
WATER, OPEN SPACES-- THESE
SHOULD ONCE AGAIN BE THE
BIRTHRIGHT OF EVERY AMERICAN.
Stahl: THEY WERE JUST OPENING
UP RELATIONS WITH CHINA.
NIXON AND KISSINGER WERE JUSBEGINNING TO HAVE A LITTLE
DTENTE WITH CHINA FOR THE
FIRST TIME.
AND A DTENTE WITH RUSSIA, THE
SOVIET UNION.
THERE WAS A SENSE OF A MAN OF
DEPTH, AND A SENSE THAT HE
REALLY DID WANT TO MAKE POSITIVE
CHANGE IN THE WORLD.
Nixon: HELLO, NEIL AND BUZZ.
I'M TALKING TO YOU BY TELEPHONE
FROM THE OVAL ROOM AT THE WHITE
HOUSE, AND THIS CERTAINLY HAS TO
BE THE MOST HISTORIC TELEPHONE
CALL EVER MADE FROM THE WHITE
HOUSE.
Stahl: AND THEN, THERE'S
THIS... I GUESS YOU WOULD CALL
IT, CORRUPT SIDE TO HIM.
Haldeman: THEY'RE ALL OUT OF
JAIL.
THEY'VE ALL BEEN TAKEN CARE OF.
ALL OUT ON BAIL.
Nixon: WELL, THEY TOOK A HELL
OF A RISK, AND THEY HAVE TO BE
PAID.
THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT.
Stahl: THERE WAS A RACISSTREAK.
HE WAS ANTI-SEMETIC.
Nixon: THE JEWS ARE BORN
SPIES.
THEY'RE JUST IN IT UP TO THEIR
NECKS.
Stahl: SO, HE'S CONFUSING.
YOU CAN'T JUST SAY, "WHAT'S
NIXON LIKE?"
THERE ARE TOO MANY
CONTRADICTIONS TO HAVE AN
EASY ANSWER.
Bernstein: ONE OF THE
DOMINANT THINGS GOING ON IN
1972, AND IT PREDATED NIXON'S
ELECTION, WAS THE ANTI-WAR
MOVEMENT IN THIS COUNTRY.
Cronkite: WITH EACH
ESCALATION, THE WORLD COMES
CLOSER TO THE BRINK OF COSMIC
DISASTER.
END THE WAR!
Stahl: THE MOMENTUM OF THE
ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT IS BUILDING.
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR...
STOP THE VIOLENCE.
STOP THE WAR.
Stahl: THE SENSE THAT THE
MILITARY'S NOT TELLING US THE
TRUTH HAS COME TO THE FORE,
BECAUSE OF THE LEAK OF THE
PENTAGON PAPERS.
Reporter: THE NEWSPAPER
HAS PRINTED EXCERPTS FROM
THOUSANDS OF CLASSIFIED PENTAGON
PAPERS, DETAILING THE HIDDEN
HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM WAR.
Colson: NIXON, IN ABSOLUTE
FRUSTRATION, AND SOMEWHAJUSTIFIABLE, IN MY OPINION,
WAS POUNDING THE DESK IN THE
OVAL OFFICE, SAYING, "WE HAVE
GOT TO DO SOMETHING TO STOP
THESE" EXPLETIVE DELETED "LEAKS.
I WANT THOSE CLASSIFIED
DOCUMENTS PROTECTED."
Wallace: AND THAT'S WHERE THE
PLUMBERS BEGAN.
Colson: THAT'S WHERE THE
PLUMBERS STARTED.
Woodward: THE HIRING OF
GORDON LIDDY AND HOWARD HUNT...
THEY WERE CALLED THE "PLUMBERS,"
IN THE WHITE HOUSE, TO PLUG
LEAKS.
Wallace: THE SHADOW OF
CORRUPTION CAST BY THE WATERGATE
BUGGING CAPER KEEPS GROWING
LARGER AND MORE MENACING,
INSTEAD OF DISAPPEARING AS THE
REPUBLICANS HAD HOPED.
Bernstein: THE FIRST 12 WEEKS
OF THE STORY ESTABLISHED ALL
THE CRITICAL LINES, AND
ESPECIALLY THE DISCOVERY OF A
SECRET FUND THAT PAID FOR THE
UNDERCOVER ACTIVITIES OF THE
NIXON CAMPAIGN.
Schorr: SECRET MONEY, FOUND
ON THE MEN WHO BROKE INTO
DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS.
Woodward: THE SECRET FUND HAD
$700,000 IN CASH.
ASTONISHING IN ITSELF.
Bernstein: WE HAD THIS LISOF ALL OF THE EMPLOYEES OF THE
COMMITTEE FOR THE RE-ELECTION
OF THE PRESIDENT, AND ONE OF
THEM WAS THE BOOKKEEPER, NAMED
JUDY HOBACK.
Judy Hoback Miller: ON THE
NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 14th, THERE
WAS A KNOCK ON THE DOOR.
IT WAS CARL BERNSTEIN.
Bernstein: SHE WAS SCARED.
THAT WAS THE FIRST THING THACAME THROUGH.
Hoback Miller: I IMMEDIATELY
KNEW THAT I HAD AN AWFUL LOT OF
INFORMATION.
OUR MAIN JOB WAS TO ACCOUNT FOR
THE FUNDS THAT CAME IN THROUGH
DONATIONS.
PEOPLE WOULD COME WITH BROWN
PAPER BAGS OF CASH, MORE CASH
THAN I EVER DREAMED OF SEEING IN
MY LIFETIME.
Bernstein: IT BECAME APPARENTHAT SHE WAS NOT A BLIND
LOYALIST TO RICHARD NIXON, AND
THAT SOMETHING HAD OCCURRED,
THAT MADE HER THINK THAT THINGS
WERE NOT AS THEY SHOULD BE.
AND SHE KIND OF BLURTED OUT THAHUGH SLOAN, THE TREASURER, HAD
QUIT BECAUSE HE WAS DISTURBED BY
WHAT HE HAD SEEN.
Hugh Sloan: I LEARNED ABOUTHE BREAK-IN BY READING THE
NEWSPAPER LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.
Woodward: HUGH SLOAN WAS A
SENIOR MEMBER OF THE NIXON
CAMPAIGN AND WAS THE TREASURER.
Chapin: WHEN CREP, THE
COMMITTEE TO RE-ELECT THE
PRESIDENT, WAS BEING
ESTABLISHED, HUGH MOVED OUT OF
MY OPERATION AT THE WEST WING
AND WENT OVER TO CREP.
HUGH IS A MAN OF GREAINTEGRITY.
Hugh Sloan: GORDON LIDDY CAME
INTO THE OFFICE.
HE WAS OBVIOUSLY IN A HURRY.
IN PASSING ME IN THE HALL,
TOLD ME, "MY BOYS GOT CAUGHLAST NIGHT.
I MADE A MISTAKE.
I'M GOING TO LOSE MY JOB."
KNOWING I'D JUST GIVEN A WHOLE
LOT OF CASH TO GORDON LIDDY,
I WAS MAKING THE ASSUMPTION THAPROBABLY, I UNWITTINGLY HAD
PAID FOR THIS.
Cronkite: THE WHITE HOUSE
DENIED, AND CONTINUES TO DENY,
INVOLVEMENT IN ANY WRONGDOING.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE BREAK-IN,
THE COMMITTEE TO RE-ELECT THE
PRESIDENT FIRED McCORD.
WHEN LIDDY REFUSED TO ANSWER
F.B.I. QUESTIONS, HE WAS FIRED,
TOO.
Schorr: THE WATERGATE
CONSPIRATOR, GORDON LIDDY,
RECEIVED $235,000 ON THE SAY-SO
OF HALDEMAN'S MAN IN THE
COMMITTEE, JEB McGRUDER.
Hugh Sloan: I WAS SUMMONED BY
JEB MAGRUDER, WHO SAID, "WE HAVE
A PROBLEM ABOUT THE LIDDY MONEY.
WE NEED TO AGREE ON A NUMBER.
WE NEED A LOWER NUMBER."
I SAID, "JEB, I'M NOT GOING TO
PERJURE MYSELF OVER THIS THING."
AND HE RATHER CHILLINGLY SAID,
"WELL, YOU MAY HAVE TO."
Chapin: HUGH CAME UP TO ME
AND HE STARTED DESCRIBING WHAWAS GOING ON OVER AT CREP.
HE SAYS THERE'S TOO MUCH MONEY.
SAYS THINGS WERE OUT OF CONTROL.
SOMETHING BAD IS GOING TO
HAPPEN.
Hugh Sloan: IN MY MIND, WHAWAS DEVELOPING, CLEARLY WAS A
COVER-UP.
I'D LIKE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO
ASK THE QUESTION.
I STAKED OUT, MY OWN MIND, HOW I
WAS GOING TO DEAL WITH THIS.
AND FORTUNATELY, I WAS SUPPORTED
BY MY WIFE, WHO WAS A ROCK
THROUGH ALL THIS FOR ME.
Deborah Sloan: I WORKED IN
THE EAST WING IN THE WHITE HOUSE
AS ASSISTANT TO THE SOCIAL
SECRETARY.
WE HAD REALLY LED A FAIRYTALE
EXISTENCE.
AND THEN SUDDENLY THIS HAPPENED.
Cronkite: IN THE FOLLOWING
WEEKS, TWO TOP-LEVEL OPERATIVES
LEFT THE NIXON CAMPAIGN.
JOHN MITCHELL, FORMER ATTORNEY
GENERAL, CITED FAMILY REASONS
FOR HIS DEPARTURE AS CAMPAIGN
MANAGER.
HUGH SLOAN, JR. RESIGNED AS
CAMPAIGN TREASURER BECAUSE HE
SAID HIS WIFE WAS EXPECTING A
CHILD SHORTLY.
Deborah Sloan: WHEN WE TALKED
ABOUT HIS RESIGNING, I WAS VERY
UPSET, AND I WAS-- ACTUALLY, I
WAS AFRAID I WAS GOING TO GO
INTO LABOR PREMATURELY.
BUT WE BOTH KNEW THAT WE DIDN'BELIEVE IN LYING FOR ANYBODY.
I WOULD NOT HAVE MARRIED HIM IF
HE WAS... DIDN'T HAVE THE
INTEGRITY THAT HE DID HAVE.
CAN YOU CONFIRM THE REPORT...
Hoback Miller: WHEN HUGH
SLOAN DECIDED TO RESIGN, HE
SAID, "YOU NEED TO STAY THERE,
SO YOU CAN TELL THE TRUTH WHEN--
WHEN IT'S NEEDED TO BE TOLD."
Hugh Sloan: I DO NOT WISH TO
MAKE ANY FURTHER COMMENT.
Deborah Sloan: THERE WERE
MANY PEOPLE KNOCKING ON OUR
DOOR, BUT WOODWARD AND BERNSTEIN
WERE THE MOST PERSISTENT.
Woodward: HUGH SLOAN HAD A
CONSCIENCE.
HE WAS SNAGGED IN, AND HE
DIDN'T LIKE IT, AND HE WANTED TO
HELP US.
Hoback Miller: I WAS VERY
UPSET THAT HUGH SLOAN WAS BEING,
SORT OF, PINNED AS THE FALL GUY.
AND I REALLY, AT THIS POINT,
WANTED THE TRUTH TO COME OUT.
I FELT VERY STRONGLY BY THIS
POINT THAT IT PROBABLY WENT WAY
TO THE TOP.
Nixon: I HAD NO PRIOR
KNOWLEDGE OF THE WATERGATE
BREAK-IN.
I NEITHER TOOK PART IN, NOR KNEW
ABOUT ANY OF THE SUBSEQUENCOVER-UP ACTIVITIES.
I NEITHER AUTHORIZED NOR
ENCOURAGED SUBORDINATES TO
ENGAGE IN ILLEGAL OR IMPROPER
CAMPAIGN TACTICS.
THAT WAS AND THAT IS THE SIMPLE
TRUTH.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
Nixon: TONIGHT, I AGAIN
PROUDLY ACCEPT THAT NOMINATION
FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
FOUR MORE YEARS!
FOUR MORE YEARS!
Stahl: AT THE END OF 1972,
AS WE WERE GETTING CLOSER TO THE
ELECTION, WALTER CRONKITE, OUR
LEADER AT CBS NEWS, DECIDED THATHIS STORY'S VERY CONFUSING.
HE BELIEVED IT WAS A HUGE STORY
THAT REACHED RIGHT UP TO THE
HIGHEST LEVELS OF POWER, AND
HE SET OUT TO EXPLAIN THE
COMPLICATIONS.
Cronkite: AT FIRST, IT WAS
CALLED THE WATERGATE CAPER.
FIVE MEN APPARENTLY CAUGHT IN
THE ACT OF BURGLARIZING AND
BUGGING DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS
IN WASHINGTON.
BUT THE EPISODE GREW STEADILY
MORE SINISTER.
Deborah Sloan: WALTER
CRONKITE WAS AN ICON.
HE DID NOT APPEAR PARTISAN.
HE GAVE YOU THE FACTS.
YOU BELIEVED HIM.
YOU TRUSTED HIM.
YOU TRUSTED THAT HE WOULD BE
TELLING YOU THE TRUTH.
Cronkite: WE SHALL TRY,
TONIGHT, TO PULL TOGETHER THE
THREADS OF THIS AMAZING STORY,
QUITE UNLIKE ANY IN OUR MODERN
AMERICAN HISTORY.
Schorr: IT WAS CLEAR THERE
WERE LINKS REACHING INTO THE
WHITE HOUSE.
Reporter: FOR SECREINTELLIGENCE WORK AND DIRTY
TRICKS AGAINST THE DEMOCRATS...
Reporter: ...SEGRETTI TRIED
TO RECRUIT AT LEAST 12 ATTORNEYS
FOR POLITICAL ESPIONAGE.
Schorr: A BOOKKEEPING
NIGHTMARE IN A MASSIVE EFFORT TO
CONCEAL CAMPAIGN.
Rather: ISSUING GENERAL
DENIALS, THEY ARE DEPENDING UPON
THAT AND SILENCE TO MAKE THE
ALLEGATIONS GO AWAY.
Cronkite: CHARGES OF A
HIGH-LEVEL CAMPAIGN OF
POLITICAL SABOTAGE AND ESPIONAGE
APPARENTLY UNPARALLELED IN
AMERICAN HISTORY.
Bernstein: WOW.
Woodward: THIS WAS A DREARY
TIME.
THE "POST" WAS A LOCAL NEWSPAPER
THEN.
THERE WAS NO INTERNET.
THERE WAS NO CIRCULATION IN THE
UNITED STATES.
CBS HAD TAKEN THE "POST"
NATIONAL.
Bernstein: DURING THE INITIAL
PHASE, THE TELEVISION COVERAGE
WAS-- WAS PRETTY POOR.
CBS, IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS OF
THE CAMPAIGN, I THINK, DID A
GREAT SERVICE BY AIRING THE
ISSUE ON TWO LONG SEGMENTS ON
THE "CRONKITE" SHOW.
Woodward: VERY COURAGEOUSLY,
IN FACT.
Bernstein: RIGHT, UNDER--
UNDER PRESSURE FROM THE WHITE
HOUSE NOT TO GO WITH IT.
Cronkite: THE STORY WAS
LOSING IMPETUS, AND YET WITH THE
BODY OF EVIDENCE THEY HAD
BROUGHT TOGETHER, IT WAS A WHALE
OF A STORY, OF COURSE.
WHO GOT THE WIRETAP REPORTS?
HOW WAS THE INFORMATION USED?
IT IS THIS LAST UNANSWERED
QUESTION WHICH POINTS THE WAY
FROM THE WATERGATE CAPER TO THE
WATERGATE AFFAIR- CHARGES THAWATERGATE WAS ONLY PART OF, IN
THE "WASHINGTON POST'S" WORDS,
"A BROAD CAMPAIGN OF POLITICAL
ESPIONAGE AND SABOTAGE AGAINSTHE DEMOCRATIC PARTY."
Stahl: HE TELLS THE PUBLIC
THAT, IN EFFECT, A CRIME HAS
BEEN COMMITTED, AND IT REACHES
PRETTY HIGH UP IN THE
GOVERNMENT.
JUST THE FACT THAT WALTER DID
THIS HIMSELF-- HE DIDN'T LEAD TO
ANOTHER REPORTER, HE DID THE
REPORT-- HAD A HUGE IMPACT.
Nixon: YOU SEE CBS ON THE
WATERGATE BUSINESS?
VERY DAMAGING POLITICALLY.
Haldeman: THE PRESIDENT HAD
A STRONG REACTION TO CBS'S
SPECIAL REPORT ON THE WATERGATE
LAST NIGHT.
SAYS, I QUOTE, "THAT FINISHES
THEM," CLOSED QUOTE.
HE MEANS HE'S READY TO WRITE
CBS OFF COMPLETELY.
Colson: THERE WAS BLOOD IN
THE WATER.
WE HAD DONE A LOT TO CREATE
HOSTILITY WITH THE PRESS.
I MEAN, WE WERE GREATLY
RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT.
IT WAS A-- THERE WAS A REAL
HOSTILITY, ADVERSARY
RELATIONSHIP.
Wallace: BETWEEN THE NIXON
WHITE HOUSE AND THE PRESS
GENERALLY?
Colson: THE PRESS GENERALLY.
Wallace: PRINT AND
TELEVISION?
Colson: PRINT AND TELEVISION.
Nixon: I HAVE NEVER HEARD OR
SEEN SUCH OUTRAGEOUS, VICIOUS,
DISTORTED REPORTING IN 27 YEARS
OF PUBLIC LIFE.
Woodward: NIXON LITERALLY
SAID, "THE MOST POWERFUL
INSTITUTION IN THE COUNTRY IS
NOT THE PRESIDENCY, NOT THE
SUPREME COURT, NOT THE CONGRESS,
BUT THE PRESS, AND THEY ARE
VICIOUS AND THEY ARE AFTER YOU."
Robert Pierpoint: MR.
PRESIDENT, WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE
TELEVISION COVERAGE OF YOU IN
THESE PAST WEEKS AND MONTHS THAHAS SO AROUSED YOUR ANGER?
Nixon: DON'T GET THE
IMPRESSION THAT YOU AROUSE MY
ANGER.
( LAUGHTER )
YOU SEE, ONE CAN ONLY BE ANGRY
WITH THOSE HE RESPECTS.
Rather: IF ANY, OR ALL, OF
WHAT IS ALLEGED TO BE GOING ON
IS TRUE, HOW HIGH UP IN THE
WHITE HOUSE DOES IT GO?
THERE ARE THREE KEY NAMES:
MITCHELL, HALDEMAN, AND CHAPIN.
Chapin: TO THOSE OF US ON THE
NIXON SIDE, IT'S VIEWED AS A
POLITICAL EVENT.
IT'S OCTOBER; WE'RE COMING INTO
A NOVEMBER ELECTION.
WE'RE GETTING THIS
DISPROPORTIONATE COVERAGE THAPORTRAYS US AS CRIMINAL-LIKE,
AND WE'RE REBELLING AGAINST IT.
Stahl: IT DID MAKE THE PUBLIC
AWARE OF HOW HIGH UP THIS STORY
WENT, INTO THE WHITE HOUSE, BUIT DIDN'T CHANGE PUBLIC OPINION
THAT MUCH.
YOU KNOW, NIXON WAS PRETTY
POPULAR.
Announcer: REPORTING FROM
CBS NEWS ELECTION HEADQUARTERS
IN NEW YORK, HERE IS
CORRESPONDENT WALTER CRONKITE.
Cronkite: GOOD EVENING AGAIN.
SOME OR ALL OF THE POLLS HAVE
CLOSED NOW IN SOME 31 OF THE
STATES, AND PRESIDENT NIXON IS
WELL ON THE WAY TOWARD THE
PREDICTED LANDSLIDE RE-ELECTION.
Woodward: NIXON WON A MASSIVE
LANDSLIDE REELECTION, BUT IT WAS
A SENSE OF DREAD IN THE NIXON
WHITE HOUSE, THAT "WE HAVE BEEN
CAUGHT."
THE GRAND INQUISITION IS
BEGINNING.
Haldeman: GENERAL AGREEMENON THE STRATEGY THAT WE SHOULD
KEEP THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE OF
TOTAL COOPERATION, BUT OUR
OBJECTIVE INTERNALLY SHOULD BE
MAXIMUM OBSTRUCTION AND
CONTAINMENT.
Nixon: REAL PROGRESS HAS BEEN
MADE IN FINDING THE TRUTH.
I CONDEMN ANY ATTEMPTS TO COVER
UP IN THIS CASE NO MATTER WHO IS
INVOLVED.
Haldeman: I GUESS THE PROBLEM
OF WHAT TO DO WITH CHAPIN
CONCERNS THE PRESIDENT GREATLY.
HE'S VERY DETERMINED THAT WE NODO ANYTHING THAT'S HARMFUL IN
ANY WAY TO DWIGHT ESPECIALLY,
BUT FEELS THAT WE CAN'T KEEP HIM
IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
Chapin: AFTER THE ELECTION,
THERE WAS A SENATOR BY THE NAME
OF SAM ERVIN, AND HE WAS GETTING
READY TO HOLD SOME HEARINGS.
IT WAS FELT THAT, IF I LEFT AND
IF CHUCK COLSON LEFT, THAT THAMIGHT HEAD OFF THE HEARINGS,
AND THEREFORE I WAS GOING TO
HAVE TO LEAVE THE WHITE HOUSE.
Cronkite: THE WHITE HOUSE
CONFIRMED TODAY THAT DWIGHCHAPIN IS LEAVING THIS SPRING
FROM HIS JOB AS PRESIDENNIXON'S APPOINTMENTS SECRETARY.
THE SPOKESMAN, HOWEVER, DENIED
REPORTS THAT CHAPIN'S BEING
FORCED OUT BECAUSE OF STORIES
LINKING HIM TO THE POLITICAL
ESPIONAGE AGAINST THE DEMOCRATS.
Chapin: IT WAS INCREDIBLY
PAINFUL.
I USE THE TERM "HEARTBROKEN."
BUT I ALSO HAD BEEN AROUND THE
TRACK.
THEY FELT THAT IF THEY STARTED
CLEANING HOUSE, THAT THEY COULD
MAYBE AVOID THE SAM ERVIN
HEARINGS THING.
Roger Mudd: THE ACKNOWLEDGED
LEADER OF THE SENATE'S FORCES OF
THIS LONG WAR IS SAM ERVIN OF
NORTH CAROLINA.
Herman: ERVIN HAS PROMISED
THAT THERE WILL BE REVELATIONS
OF NEW MATERIAL, EVENTS NOT YEREPORTED IN THE PRESS, AND HE
SAYS SOME OF THEM ARE GOING TO
BE STARTLING.
Sam Ervin: THE COMMITTEE WILL
COME TO ORDER.
Schorr: 11 MONTHS TO THE DAY
FROM THE WATERGATE BREAK-IN,
CHAIRMAN SAM ERVIN LAUNCHED HIS
BIPARTISAN SENATE COMMITTEE ON A
MONTHS-LONG SERIES OF HEARINGS,
TRYING TO FIND OUT WHO, HOW, AND
WHY.
Stahl: THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN,
THIS COMES ON TO TELEVISION.
LIVE EVERY DAY.
THE LONG SILENCE MAINTAINED BY
THE WATERGATE INSIDERS APPEARS
TO BE BREAKING DOWN.
AND WE HAD THE REPORTERS ATHESE LONG TABLES, AND FAMOUS
PEOPLE CAME.
MOVIE STARS, PEOPLE FROM ABROAD
CAME TO SIT IN THAT ROOM.
I'M ON HOLIDAY FOR THREE
WEEKS, AND I'M HERE TO HEAR THE
WATERGATE HEARINGS.
Stahl: EVERYBODY WATCHED.
THE WHOLE COUNTRY.
Ervin: IF THE MANY
ALLEGATIONS MADE TO THIS DAY ARE
TRUE, THEN THE BURGLARS WHO
BROKE INTO THE HEADQUARTERS OF
THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL
COMMITTEE AT THE WATERGATE WERE,
IN EFFECT, BREAKING INTO THE
HOME OF EVERY CITIZEN OF THE
UNITED STATES.
DO YOU SWEAR THE EVIDENCE THAYOU SHALL GIVE THE SELECCOMMITTEE ON PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES SHALL BE THE
TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, SO HELP
YOU GOD?
Bernstein: THE HEARING ITSELF
FROM THE VERY BEGINNING
ESTABLISHED A KIND OF MOMENTUM.
Sam Dash: AFTER YOUR ARREST,
DID YOU RECEIVE ANY MONEY?
James McCord: YES, I DID.
Hugh Sloan: HE ASKED ME WHERE
THE PAPER SHREDDER WAS.
Jeb Magruder: WE HAD TO COME
UP WITH A VERY GOOD STORY TO
JUSTIFY WHY.
Bernstein: AND THEN YOU GOTO DEAN.
Ervin: YOUR NAME IS JOHN W.
DEAN III.
Dean: THAT IS CORRECT.
Ervin: YOU MAY BE SEATED.
Stahl: HERE HE IS, THE MAN
WHO WAS RICHARD NIXON'S CHIEF
COUNSEL.
HE WALKED YOU THROUGH SCENES IN
THE OVAL OFFICE WITH THE
PRESIDENT, EACH SCENE
IMPLICATING RICHARD NIXON.
HE JUST TOOK THE CURTAIN AND
OPENED IT UP, AND THE MAN
STANDING THERE WAS RICHARD
NIXON.
IT WAS THE TURNING POINT IN
WATERGATE.
Cronkite: THE MAN IN THE
MIDDLE IN THE WATERGATE SCANDAL.
ACCUSER AND ACCUSED.
34-YEAR-OLD JOHN WESLEY DEAN,
III.
FIRED AS COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENNIXON AFTER ISSUING A STATEMENTHAT HE WOULD NOT BE A
SCAPEGOAT, HE WENT TO FEDERAL
PROSECUTORS BARGAINING FOR
IMMUNITY IF HE WOULD TELL ALL.
Dean: I THINK THAT A LOT OF
PEOPLE JUST DON'T REALLY ACCEPTHE TRUTH FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS.
AND I THINK THAT... I FELT I
COULD BE SOME SORT OF CATALYSTO-- TO START GETTING THE TRUTH
OUT.
Chapin: JOHN DEAN WAS IN
CHARGE OF ANYTHING INVOLVING
POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.
SO, WHEN THE WATERGATE BREAK-IN
HAPPENED, JOHN DEAN KNEW
PRECISELY WHAT HAD TRANSPIRED.
Stahl: DID YOU READ THE
ARTICLE ABOUT MR. COLSON, AND
THE CHARGES THAT YOU WERE AN
EARLY AND WILLING PARTICIPANT IN
THE WATERGATE COVER-UP?
Dean: NO, I HAVEN'T READ THE
PAPER YET.
SORRY.
Stahl: MY JOB WAS TO STAKE
PEOPLE OUT BEFORE THEY
TESTIFIED.
I WAS SENT OUT TO JOHN DEAN'S
HOUSE, AND I SAID, "OH, THIS IS
FANTASTIC, I'M GOING TO GET A
BIG, HUGE STORY."
AND ALL HE TOLD ME WAS THAT HE
GOT A HAIRCUT.
Dean: I HAVE NO COMMENT.
SORRY.
Bernstein: NIXON HAD PUT DEAN
SUPPOSEDLY IN CHARGE OF
INVESTIGATING WHAT HAD HAPPENED.
WHEN, IN FACT, DEAN BECAME
INTEGRAL TO THE COVER-UP ITSELF.
Ervin: STAND UP AND RAISE
YOUR RIGHT HAND.
DO YOU SWEAR THAT THE
EVIDENCE...
Stahl: HE TESTIFIED FOR DAYS.
Dean: THE WATERGATE MATTER
WAS AN INEVITABLE OUTGROWTH...
I LEARNED ANY MEANS, LEGAL OR
ILLEGAL, TO GET SOME THUGS TO
REMOVE...
Stahl: AND HE BASICALLY SAID
NIXON WAS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE
COVER-UP.
Dean: I LEFT THE MEETING
WITH THE IMPRESSION THAT THE
PRESIDENT WAS WELL AWARE OF
WHAT HAD BEEN GOING ON,
REGARDING THE SUCCESS OF KEEPING
THE WHITE HOUSE OUT OF THE
WATERGATE SCANDAL, AND I HAD
ALSO EXPRESSED TO HIM MY CONCERN
THAT I WAS NOT CONFIDENT THATHE COVER-UP COULD BE MAINTAINED
INDEFINITELY.
Stahl: HERE HE IS, A MAN FROM
WITHIN THE WHITE HOUSE, WITHIN
THE OVAL OFFICE, NOW TURNS THE
TABLES.
SPILLS THE BEANS.
Woodward: THE POWER OF
DEAN'S TESTIMONY WAS, HE
IMPLICATED HIMSELF.
HE DIDN'T SAY, "I DIDN'T DO
THIS."
HE SAID, "I DID IT."
Dean: I SUBSEQUENTLY MET WITH
MR. EHRLICHMAN TO INFORM HIM OF
THE CONTENTS OF HUNT'S SAFE.
I REMEMBER WELL HIS
INSTRUCTIONS: HE TOLD ME TO
SHRED THE DOCUMENTS AND "DEEP
SIX" THE BRIEFCASE.
Bernstein: DEAN WAS THE
PERFECT WITNESS, AND YOU HAD ALL
THESE DETAILS.
THERE WAS NO WAY FOR HIM NOT TO
BE CREDIBLE TO ANY OPEN-MINDED
PERSON.
Dash: I ALWAYS WAS SOMEWHASQUEAMISH ABOUT, YOU KNOW,
HOW MUCH... I BELIEVED WE COULD
BELIEVE JOHN DEAN.
DID YOU JUST HAVE AN IMPRESSION
AS TO HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE
COVER-UP, OR DO YOU HAVE A
CONVICTION CONCERNING THAT?
AND I TRIED TO CROSS-EXAMINE
HIM.
I COULDN'T BREAK HIM.
BUT NEVERTHELESS, MAYBE HE WAS A
REALLY FLUENT LIAR.
Dean: AND I SAID TO THE--
THE PRESIDENT...
Richard Ben-Veniste: I WAS
SKEPTICAL ABOUT JOHN DEAN'S
IMPLICATION OF RICHARD NIXON.
IT SEEMED TO ME, THIS YOUNG GUY,
WHO WAS ONLY A FEW YEARS OLDER
THAN I WAS AT THE TIME, WAS
PERHAPS EXAGGERATING.
Wallace: WHAT'S YOUR OPINION
OF JOHN DEAN?
G. Gordon Liddy: I THINK,
IN ALL FAIRNESS TO THE MAN,
YOU'D HAVE TO PUT HIM RIGHT UP
THERE WITH JUDAS ISCARIOT, HE
BEING A BETRAYER OF A PERSON IN
HIGH POSITION.
Wallace: AND WHAT DO YOU
THINK HIS MOTIVE WAS?
Liddy: TO SAVE HIS ASS.
Dean: I AM QUITE AWARE OF THE
FACT THAT IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES,
IT'S GOING TO BE MY WORD AGAINSONE MAN'S WORD.
IT'S GOING TO BE MY WORD AGAINSTWO MEN.
IT'S GOING TO BE MY WORD AGAINSTHREE MEN.
AND PROBABLY, IN SOME CASES,
IT'S GOING TO BE MY WORD AGAINSFOUR MEN.
I KNOW THE TRUTH IS MY ALLY IN
THIS, AND I THINK, ULTIMATELY,
THE TRUTH IS GOING TO COME OUT.
Mudd: GOOD EVENING.
THERE WAS A STARTLING
DEVELOPMENT IN THE SENATE
WATERGATE HEARINGS TODAY.
Schorr: COMMITTEE ATTENTION
SEEMED FOCUSED ELSEWHERE,
MEMBERS WHISPERING TO EACH
OTHER, AT ONE POINT HUDDLING
OUTSIDE.
AND WORD SPREAD OF A MYSTERY
WITNESS.
Stahl: THIS WAS A SECREWITNESS.
HE APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE.
AND WE DIDN'T KNOW WHO HE WAS.
WHO IS HE?
Ervin: I SUPPOSE, JUST FOR
THE RECORD, THAT YOU STATE YOUR
NAME AND PRESENT OCCUPATION AND
ADDRESS.
Butterfield: MY NAME IS
ALEXANDER PORTER BUTTERFIELD.
I WAS CALLED DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO
THE PRESIDENT.
THAT PUT ME IN CHARGE OF THE
PRESIDENT'S OFFICIAL DAY.
I BECAME INCREASINGLY CLOSE TO
HIM THROUGHOUT THAT FOUR-YEAR
PERIOD.
HE WAS THE STRANGEST MAN I--
I GUESS, I EVER MET.
SHY.
VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AROUND PEOPLE
HE HADN'T MET BEFORE.
AND HE WAS HARD TO READ.
HE SAID SOME THINGS THAT WERE
MOST INAPPROPRIATE AT TIMES.
I SAT IN ON MANY MEETINGS AND
I THOUGHT, MY GOD, I CAN'BELIEVE WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS
SAYING, IN LIGHT OF WHAT HE
KNOWS AND I KNOW.
I KNEW SO MANY THINGS ABOUT THE
WHITE HOUSE.
I CERTAINLY DIDN'T WANT TO
TESTIFY.
Fred Thompson: SO YOU WERE
EMPLOYED ON JANUARY 21, 1969...
Dash: EVERYBODY WAS
WONDERING, "WHO IS THIS PERSON
COMING IN WITH HIS BRIEFCASE?"
AND, HE THEN GAVE THE TESTIMONY
THAT LITERALLY SHOCKED THE
WORLD.
Thompson: MR. BUTTERFIELD,
ARE YOU AWARE OF THE
INSTALLATION OF ANY LISTENING
DEVICES IN THE OVAL OFFICE OF
THE PRESIDENT?
Butterfield: I WAS AWARE OF
LISTENING DEVICES.
YES, SIR.
Stahl: THE ROOM WAS JUSDRENCHED IN SILENCE.
ABSOLUTE SILENCE.
AND SLOWLY, AS HE HESITATED, IBECAME CLEAR.
Thompson: ARE YOU AWARE OF
ANY DEVICES THAT WERE INSTALLED
IN THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE BUILDING
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT?
Butterfield: YES, SIR.
AT THAT TIME.
Thompson: WERE THEY INSTALLED
AT THE SAME TIME?
Butterfield: THEY WERE
INSTALLED AT THE SAME TIME.
Dash: IT WASN'T ONE TAPE.
IT WAS A TAPING SYSTEM, THARECORDED, 24 HOURS A DAY, ALL OF
THE CONVERSATIONS IN THE OVAL
OFFICE FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS.
AND BOOM, YOU KNOW.
WHAT AN EXPLOSION.
Chapin: WHEN ALEX BUTTERFIELD
REVEALED THE TAPING SYSTEM, I
WAS STUNNED.
I HAD NO IDEA IT WAS THERE.
ONLY A VERY FEW SELECT PEOPLE
KNEW ABOUT THEM.
AND SO, I WAS REALLY TAKEN BACK.
Haldeman: THE TAPES WERE PUINTO THE WHITE HOUSE AT RICHARD
NIXON'S ORDERS.
HE WANTED THEM FOR THE PURPOSE
OF RECORDING AND PRESERVING FOR
HIS USE, HIS PERSONAL USE, ALL
OF WHAT WAS SAID BY HIM AND BY
OTHERS IN THE MEETINGS THAT HE
HELD IN THE OVAL OFFICE AND
OTHER PRINCIPAL PLACES.
Wallace: FOR EVENTUAL USE FOR
WRITING OR WHATEVER?
Haldeman: FOR EVENTUAL
REFERENCE BY HIM.
Wallace: THAT'S THE ONLY
REASON?
Haldeman: THAT IS THE
ABSOLUTELY ONLY REASON.
Dash: AND SO THAT IF EITHER
MR. DEAN, MR. HALDEMAN,
MR. EHRLICHMAN, MR. COLSON HAD
PARTICULAR MEETINGS IN THE OVAL
OFFICE WITH THE PRESIDENT ON ANY
PARTICULAR DATES THAT HAVE BEEN
TESTIFIED BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE,
THERE WOULD BE A TAPE RECORDING
WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THAT FULL
CONVERSATION, WOULD THERE NOT?
Butterfield: YES, SIR.
Nixon: HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU
NEED?
Dean: I WOULD SAY THESE
PEOPLE ARE GOING TO COST... A
MILLION DOLLARS OVER THE NEXTWO YEARS.
Nixon: YOU COULD GET A
MILLION DOLLARS, AND YOU COULD
GET IT IN CASH.
I KNOW WHERE IT COULD BE GOTTEN.
Stahl: IT DAWNED ON ALL OF US
IN THE PRESS CORPS THAT THERE
MIGHT BE A RECORD OF EVERYTHING
THAT WAS SAID.
THAT WE WOULD KNOW IF JOHN DEAN
HAD LIED OR NOT.
Ben-Veniste: JOHN DEAN WAS
CORROBORATED IN CHAPTER AND
VERSE WITHOUT ANY KIND OF
MATERIAL DEVIATION BY THE TAPES
THAT NIXON HAD SECRETLY MADE AND
WHICH JOHN DEAN DID NOT KNOW
EXISTED.
Dean: I BEGAN BY TELLING THE
PRESIDENT THAT THERE WAS A
CANCER GROWING ON THE PRESIDENCY
AND IF THE CANCER WAS NOREMOVED, THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF
WOULD BE KILLED BY IT.
I THINK THAT... THERE IS NO
DOUBT ABOUT THE SERIOUSNESS OF
THE PROBLEM WE'VE GOT.
WE HAVE A CANCER WITHIN,
CLOSE TO THE PRESIDENCY, THAT'S
GROWING.
IT'S GROWING DAILY.
Ben-Veniste: THE TAPES
VERIFIED EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS
TESTIFYING TO.
Nixon: GET EHRLICHMAN IN.
Butterfield: I THOUGHTHE PRESIDENT MIGHT BE A
LITTLE BIT INTIMIDATED BY
KNOWING THAT THESE REELS ARE
GOING ALL THE TIME, BUT HE NEVER
DID SEEM TO BE.
Nixon: WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH
THESE CLOWNS?
Butterfield: I CERTAINLY
DIDN'T KNOW, WHEN I WENT TO THE
WHITE HOUSE, THAT I WAS GOING TO
HAVE TO PUT UP WITH WHAT I DID.
IT WAS, IN FACT, IN MANY WAYS A
CESSPOOL.
YOU NEVER KNEW WHAT SORT OF
SKULLDUGGERY MIGHT BE THE ORDER
OF THE DAY.
Nixon: NEVER STRIKE A KING
UNLESS YOU KILL HIM.
THEY STRUCK AND DID NOT KILL.
AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO KILL
THEM.
I DON'T CARE WHAT IT COSTS.
THEY'RE GOING TO BE KILLED.
Stahl: IT WAS SO BIG--
THE IDEA THAT EVERYTHING THAHAD BEEN TESTIFIED TO, THAT WE'D
BEEN LISTENING TO, WAS GOING TO
BE PROVED, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
THIS WAS THE DAGGER RIGHT ANIXON'S THROAT.
Herman Talmadge: WHEN YOU
FOUND OUT ALL THESE CRIMES AND
CONSPIRACIES AND COVER-UPS WERE
BEING COMMITTED, WHY ON EARTH
DIDN'T YOU WALK IN THE
PRESIDENT'S OFFICE AND TELL HIM
THE TRUTH?
John Mitchell: WELL, IWASN'T A QUESTION OF TELLING
THE TRUTH.
IT WAS THE QUESTION OF NOINVOLVING HIM AT ALL.
Talmadge: ALL AROUND HIM
WERE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN CRIME,
PERJURY, ACCESSORY AFTER THE
FACT, AND YOU DELIBERATELY
REFUSED TO TELL HIM THAT.
Mitchell: SENATOR, I THINK
YOU PUT IT EXACTLY CORRECT.
Announcer: FROM CBS NEWS
WASHINGTON, LIVE COVERAGE OF THE
WATERGATE HEARINGS.
Ben Bradlee: I MEAN, MY GOD,
ONCE THE HEARINGS STARTED, I
COULD WALK FROM MY OFFICE TO THE
CAPITOL AND NEVER MISS A BEAT IN
THE TELEVISION HEARINGS.
Nelson Benton: GOOD MORNING.
ON THIS FIFTH DAY...
Bradlee: I COULD HEAR IT.
I COULD HEAR RADIO IN THE CABS.
I COULD SEE IT IN OFFICES.
IT OVERWHELMED THE CITY.
BECAUSE IT WAS SO INTERESTING.
THE ABUSE OF POWER IS A
WONDERFUL STORY.
Howard Baker: JUST WHAT DID
THE PRESIDENT KNOW, AND WHEN DID
HE FIRST KNOW IT?
GET YOUR WATERGATE HEARINGS.
READ IT RIGHT HERE.
Stahl: EVERYBODY TALKED ABOUALMOST NOTHING ELSE, ONCE THOSE
HEARINGS STARTED.
Gore Vidal: I HAVE TO HAVE MY
WATERGATE FIX EVERY SINGLE
MORNING IN THE PAPER.
I-- I GET LIKE THIS IF I HAVEN'GOT...
Dick Cavett: THERE ARE--
THERE ARE WATERGATE JUNKIES ALL
OVER...
Stahl: THERE WAS SO MUCH
HUMOR THAT CAME OUT, JUST FROM
WATCHING THE HEARINGS.
Johnny Carson: THEY CAME OUWITH A NEW DOLL...
WANDA WATERGATE!
( LAUGHS )
AND THE WAY WANDA WORKS IS,
WHENEVER SHE WETS, SHE TRIES TO
COVER IT UP.
( LAUGHTER )
Stahl: AND EVERYBODY IN THE
COUNTRY HAD AN OPINION.
I THINK NIXON SHOULD RESIGN
AND SAVE HIS FAMILY AND THE
COUNTRY THE EMBARRASSMENT.
THAT'S ALL.
I BELIEVE IN MY PRESIDENT.
I THINK HE'S A WONDERFUL MAN,
AND I THINK HE'LL GO ON TO PROVE
THAT HE IS.
Nixon: I SEE THIS LAST SIGN,
"I BELIEVE IN NIXON AND
AMERICA."
LET ME TELL YOU... I BELIEVE IN
YOU.
EVERY ONE OF YOU.
THANK YOU.
Bernstein: NIXON WAS TRULY A
TRAGIC FIGURE.
HERE WAS SOMEONE WHO, ALL HIS
LIFE, WANTED TO BE THE PRESIDENOF THE UNITED STATES.
Woodward: HE DIDN'T WANTO LOSE, AND WINNING WAS AANY COST.
Bernstein: AND TO SCREW YOUR
POLITICAL ENEM-- ENEMIES.
Woodward: YES.
Nixon: WE'RE UP AGAINST AN
ENEMY.
A CONSPIRACY.
THEY'RE USING ANY MEANS.
WE ARE GOING TO USE ANY MEANS.
IS THAT CLEAR?
Cronkite: I DON'T THINK
THERE'S ANY QUESTION THARICHARD NIXON WAS PARANOID,
ABOUT ENEMIES.
HE SAW THEM EVERYWHERE.
THIS WAS- HE-- HE LIVED IN A
KIND OF AN ATMOSPHERE OF-- OF
"ME VS. THEM."
YOU COULD SEE IT IN HIS EYES.
HE-- HIS EYES WERE KIND OF
SHIFTING, AS IF THEY'RE THERE,
THEY'RE SOMEWHERE IN THE WALLS,
THEY'RE SOMEWHERE IN THE ROOM.
Nixon: NEVER FORGET, THE
PRESS IS THE ENEMY.
THE ESTABLISHMENT IS THE ENEMY.
THE PROFESSORS ARE THE ENEMY.
WRITE THAT ON A BLACKBOARD
100 TIMES, AND NEVER FORGET IT.
Frank Gannon: WHEN PEOPLE
THINK ABOUT WATERGATE, THEY
ALSO THINK ABOUT HOW YOUR
ADMINISTRATION USED THE INTERNAL
REVENUE SERVICE TO-- TO HARASS
PEOPLE, AND HOW YOU EVEN HAD A--
A WRITTEN-DOWN ENEMIES LIST,
OF OPPONENTS TO GO AFTER AND
HURT.
Nixon: EVERY ADMINISTRATION
HAS ITS FRIENDS AND ITS ENEMIES.
WE ALWAYS DIVIDE PRESS,
EVERYBODY ELSE, UP IN THOSE
CATEGORIES.
YOU REWARD YOUR FRIENDS AND
PUNISH YOUR ENEMIES IF YOU CAN.
Stahl: ONE OF JOHN DEAN'S
REVELATIONS WAS THAT THERE WAS
AN ENEMIES LIST-- THAT NIXON
ACTUALLY HAD AN ENEMIES LIST.
I THINK THERE WERE 20 NAMES OF
PEOPLE THAT RICHARD NIXON WANTED
THE I.R.S. TO GO AFTER.
AND THEN, ONE OF THE NAMES WAS
DANIEL SCHORR, OUR CBS REPORTER.
Schorr: NOW, PERHAPS FOR
THE FIRST TIME, THE 20 PEOPLE
DESIGNATED AS WHITE HOUSE
ENEMIES...
I WAS ON THE AIR LIVE.
I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO LOOK ATHIS DOCUMENT BEFORE I STARTED
READING IT LIVE.
AND I BEGAN TO READ DOWN THE
LIST, UNTIL I CAME TO NUMBER 17.
...17th, DANIEL SCHORR OF THE
COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM IN
WASHINGTON.
THE NOTE HERE IS, "A REAL MEDIA
ENEMY."
NUMBER 18...
Nixon: THANK YOU.
Chapin: I WOULD IMAGINE EVERY
PRESIDENT HAS AN ENEMIES LIST.
NIXON'S GOT MORE ATTENTION AND
PUBLICITY.
Nixon: I WANT, BOB, MORE USE
OF WIRETAPPING.
Chapin: I MEAN, THESE PEOPLE
ARE IN POLITICAL LIFE.
THEY HAVE PEOPLE THAT ARE TRYING
TO END THEIR POLITICAL LIFE.
Nixon: MAYBE WE CAN GET A
REAL SCANDAL ON ANY-- ANY-- ANY
ONE OF THE LEADING DEMOCRATS.
FOUR MORE YEARS!
FOUR MORE YEARS!
Woodward: NIXON AND HIS TEAM
FOUND THE SOFT SPOT IN THE
AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM.
WE'RE GOING TO PICK WHO NIXON
RUNS AGAINST.
Dash: NEVER BEFORE, I THINK,
IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN
POLITICS, HAS ONE PARTY ACTUALLY
CHOSEN THE CANDIDATE OF THE
OTHER PARTY.
YOU KNOW, YOU TRY TO DESTROY THE
FRONT RUNNER.
BUT IN THIS CASE, THEY DID IWITH SUCH FRAUDULENT MEANS.
Colson: McGOVERN WAS THE
CANDIDATE THAT-- BEGINNING IN
JANUARY, WHEN I WAS TRACKING
ALL THE POLLS AND WOULD STUDY
THE POLL DATA DAILY, HE WAS THE
ONE CANDIDATE THAT WE WANTED
MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, BUNEVER DREAMT COULD EVER GENOMINATED.
Wallace: WHO WAS THE GUY THAYOU FEARED?
Colson: MUSKIE.
MUSKIE WOULD HAVE BEEN A MUCH
MORE DIFFICULT CANDIDATE FOR
NIXON TO DEFEAT.
Edmund Muskie: LET'S PICK A
CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT WHO'S
GOT THE BEST CHANCE TO BEANIXON.
AND I THINK THAT CANDIDATE IS
ME.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
Woodward: THEY HIRED A BUNCH
OF SABOTEURS AND SPIES TO
DISRUPT THE MUSKIE CAMPAIGN.
Reporter: MR. SEGRETTI,
CAN YOU STOP TO TALK WITH US
JUST A MOMENT?
Donald Segretti: I GOT A
CALL, OUT OF THE BLUE...
Wallace: FROM?
Segretti: DWIGHT CHAPIN.
WORKING IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
HE ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO
WORK IN THE CAMPAIGN FOR
RICHARD NIXON.
THE '72 ELECTION CAMPAIGN.
Wallace: AND WHAT THEY REALLY
WANTED YOU TO DO WAS... ?
Segretti: DIRTY TRICKS.
Chapin: WHEN I MET WITH DON,
THE IDEA THAT I GOT ACROSS TO
HIM WAS, LET'S HAVE THESE
DEMOCRATS THINK THAT ONE OF THE
OTHER DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES IS
THE ONE THAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM
FOR THEM.
IT WAS KIND OF THE SOWING OF
SEEDS OF DISCONTENT AMONG THE
RIVALS THAT WERE GOING AFTER THE
DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION.
Bernstein: THEY EVEN HAD ON
THEIR PAYROLL SENATOR MUSKIE'S
CHAUFFEUR.
IMAGINE THIS.
AND THE CHAUFFEUR HAD ALL THE
DOCUMENTS THAT THE MUSKIE
CAMPAIGN HAD GENERATED, AND
ALL OF THIS MATERIAL WENT BACK
TO THE WHITE HOUSE.
Woodward: ONE OF THE REALLY
NASTY, UGLY THINGS THEY DID IS,
THEY GOT MUSKIE STATIONERY,
AND THEN THEY PUT OUT A FALSE
PRESS RELEASE, IN WHICH ILOOKED LIKE MUSKIE WAS ACCUSING
OTHER DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES,
SAYING THEY WERE INVOLVED IN
ILLEGAL SEXUAL ACTIVITY.
Berl Bernhard: IT WAS A
LETTER WIDELY DISSEMINATED,
ACCUSING SENATORS HUBERHUMPHREY AND SCOOP JACKSON OF
SEXUAL AND ALCOHOLIC MISCONDUCT.
Wallace: IT SAID THAT HE HAD
AN ILLEGITIMATE DAUGHTER NAMED
MARY ANN CRAMER BORN FEBRUARY 7,
1929, ETCETERA, ETCETERA,
ETCETERA.
Segretti: THAT'S TOTALLY
FALLACIOUS.
NONE OF IT WAS TRUE.
Wallace: AND YOU WERE
RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?
Segretti: I WAS INVOLVED IN
IT, YES.
Bernhard: WHAT IT ENDED UP
WITH WAS PITTING THE DEMOCRATIC
CANDIDATES ANGRILY AGAINST ONE
ANOTHER.
THEY DESTROYED THE ONE CENTRISCANDIDATE WHO HAD THE GREATESPOSSIBILITY OF BEATING PRESIDENNIXON IN THE FALL.
IT, IN MY JUDGMENT, DEPRIVED THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE OF A LEGITIMATE
CHOICE.
Muskie: THESE REPORTS OF
WRONGDOING BY THE WHITE HOUSE
STAFF ARE SO SERIOUS THAT THE
PRESIDENT SHOULD TELL US WHETHER
HE CONDONES THIS KIND OF
POLITICAL ESPIONAGE OPERATION.
Colson: THE BIGGEST NEGATIVE
TO THE WATERGATE, IN MY MIND:
EVENTUALLY, IT'S GOING TO
COME OUT.
THERE'S JUST TOO DAMN MANY
PEOPLE INVOLVED.
Nixon: OH, SURE, THE
WHOLE GODDAMN STORY IS GOING TO
COME OUT.
Woodward: HE LOST THE BATTLE
WITH HISTORY BECAUSE OF THOSE
TAPES.
HE WILL NEVER ESCAPE THEM.
THOSE TAPES ARE LIKE AN IRON
RIGHT AROUND HIS NECK.
Benton: SO FAR, THE WHITE
HOUSE HAS NOT ANSWERED THE
QUESTION WHETHER OR NOT IT WILL
MAKE TAPES CONCERNING WATERGATE
CONVERSATIONS AVAILABLE TO THE
COMMITTEE.
Mudd: AFTER MONTHS OF TALK,
THE PRESIDENT AND THE CONGRESS
TONIGHT ARE ACTUALLY ON A
COLLISION COURSE.
THE ISSUE IS EXECUTIVE
PRIVILEGE, WHICH MR. NIXON TODAY
INVOKED WHEN HE TOLD BOTH THE
ERVIN COMMITTEE AND PROSECUTOR
ARCHIBALD COX THAT HE WILL NOGIVE THEM ANY WHITE HOUSE
RECORDINGS.
Ervin: IF YOU NOTICE, THE
PRESIDENT SAYS HE'S HEARD THE
TAPES, OR SOME OF THEM, AND THEY
SUSTAIN HIS POSITION.
BUT HE SAYS HE'S NOT GOING TO
LET ANYBODY ELSE HEAR THEM,
FOR FEAR THEY MIGHT DRAW A
DIFFERENT CONCLUSION.
( LAUGHTER )
I WAS IN HOPES THAT THE
PRESIDENT WILL ACCEDE TO THE
REQUEST OF THIS COMMITTEE FOR
THESE TAPES AND THESE PAPERS.
Dash: THE INVESTIGATION WAS
GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE
WHITE HOUSE.
OBVIOUSLY, PRESIDENT NIXON WAS
FEELING THE HEAT.
I THINK IT WAS SENATOR BAKER
WHO SAID, TO SENATOR ERVIN,
"SAM, WHY DON'T YOU CALL THE
PRESIDENT."
WE'RE ALL SITTING IN SENATOR
ERVIN'S OFFICE, AND WE COULD
ONLY HEAR ONE SIDE OF THE
CONVERSATION.
AND THEN SUDDENLY, ERVIN'S FACE
GOT FLUSHED.
"WELL, WELL, NO, MR. PRESIDENT.
NO.
WE'RE NOT OUT TO GET YOU,
MR. PRESIDENT.
NO, MR. PRES-- WE JUST WANT TO
GET AT THE FACTS.
MR. PRES-- WE'RE NOT OUT TO GEYOU, MR. PRESIDENT, NO."
AND HIS FACE WAS GETTING FLUSHER
AND FLUSHER.
AND HE FINALLY HUNG UP.
AND HE TURNED TO US, AND HE
SAID, "YOU KNOW WHAT THE
PRESIDENT WAS YELLING ON THE
PHONE TO ME?
'YOU'RE OUT TO GET ME!
YOU'RE OUT TO GET ME!
YOU'RE OUT TO GET ME'!"
Diane Sawyer: YOU DON'T EVEN
SIT SOMETIMES AND THINK TO
YOURSELF, "WHY DIDN'T I BURN
THOSE TAPES?"
Nixon: I MUST GET A-- OH,
A HALF A DOZEN LETTERS A WEEK,
EVEN NOW.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU BURN THE TAPES?"
AND THE ANSWER IS, OF COURSE,
I SHOULD.
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE.
BUT THE MAIN POINT IS, THEY
SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN STARTED.
I NEVER EVEN DREAMED THAT THE
TAPES WOULD EVER COME OUT,
EXCEPT HISTORICALLY.
AND, IF I HAD, OF COURSE, I--
I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING
WATERGATE ON THE TAPES.
WHAT'S THE SITUATION?
IS JULIE HERE?
Stephen Bull: SHE'LL BE HERE
IN JUST A MOMENT.
I LEARNED ABOUT THE EXISTENCE
OF THE TAPING SYSTEM WHEN
ALEX BUTTERFIELD LEFT THE
WHITE HOUSE.
MY TITLE AT THE WHITE HOUSE, I
GUESS OFFICIALLY, WAS SPECIAL
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT.
ESSENTIALLY, I RAN THE
PRESIDENT'S SCHEDULE.
I SPENT A LOT OF TIME ALONE IN
THE OVAL OFFICE WITH THE
PRESIDENT.
I PROBABLY SAW HIM 20 TIMES A
DAY.
Nixon: YEAH.
Operator: MR. BULL.
Bull: YES, SIR.
Nixon: HI, STEVE.
HAVE YOU GOT THAT THING WORKED
OUT?
Bull: I DON'T THINK THE
PRESIDENT EVER LISTENED TO A
TAPE, UNTIL THE SENATE
WATERGATE COMMITTEE HAD GONE
INTO BUSINESS.
AND A SUBPOENA WAS ISSUED FOR, I
DON'T KNOW, SIX OR SEVEN OR
EIGHT CONVERSATIONS.
SO THE PRESIDENT WANTED TO HEAR
WHAT WOULD BE ON THE TAPE.
AND IT FELL TO ME TO FIND THE
TAPE.
I'LL HAVE IT, PROBABLY IN FIVE
TO TEN MINUTES, AND I'LL BRING
IT OVER AND SET IT UP.
Nixon: YOU CAN SET IT UP OVER
HERE, CAN YOU?
Bull: YES, SIR.
Nixon: WELL, YOU GET IT RIGHOVER BECAUSE I'VE GOT TO...
LISTEN TO A LOT OF CRAP, AND I
JUST WANT TO GET IT OVER WITH AS
FAST AS I CAN.
Bull: YES, SIR.
Rather: GOOD EVENING.
THE PRESIDENT WILL ADDRESS THE
NATION FROM HIS OVAL OFFICE IN
THE WHITE HOUSE WEST WING.
Nixon: IF I WERE TO MAKE
PUBLIC THESE TAPES, CONTAINING
AS THEY DO BLUNT AND CANDID
REMARKS ON MANY DIFFERENSUBJECTS, THE CONFIDENTIALITY
OF THE OFFICE OF THE
PRESIDENT WOULD ALWAYS BE
SUSPECT, FROM NOW ON.
Rather: PRESIDENT NIXON'S
PLAN TO CONTINUE PREVENTING
INVESTIGATORS FROM HEARING THE
WATERGATE TAPES HAS RUN INTO
TROUBLE.
THE PRESIDENT ORDERED SPECIAL
PROSECUTOR ARCHIBALD COX TO
STOP TRYING FOR ACCESS TO THE
TAPES AND OTHER RECORDS.
Ben-Veniste: THE TENSION
CREATED BY OUR DEMAND FOR THE
TAPES PUT EXTRAORDINARY PRESSURE
ON ARCHIBALD COX.
Archibald Cox: I'M NOLOOKING FOR A CONFRONTATION.
AND I'M CERTAINLY NOT OUT TO
"GET" THE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES.
Fred Graham: COX SAID HE WILL
GO TO COURT, PROBABLY THIS
COMING WEEK, WHERE, FOR THE
FIRST TIME IN THE NATION'S
HISTORY, A FEDERAL PROSECUTOR
WILL ATTEMPT TO HOLD A PRESIDENIN CONTEMPT OF COURT.
Ben-Veniste: RICHARD NIXON
KNEW HE WAS IN TROUBLE WITH AN
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION.
AND HE NEEDED TO PUT AN END TO
IT.
Announcer: THIS IS A SPECIAL
REPORT.
Rather: THIS MAN IS
NO LONGER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF
THE UNITED STATES.
THIS MAN IS NO LONGER DEPUTY
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE
UNITED STATES.
AND THIS MAN, THE SPECIAL
PROSECUTOR IN THE WATERGATE
AFFAIR?
THIS MAN HAS BEEN FIRED, UNDER
ORDERS ISSUED BY THE PRESIDENOF THE UNITED STATES.
Stahl: THIS WAS A SCANDAL.
BEYOND THE RULE OF LAW.
THE SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACRE.
Guard: PLEASE, EVERYONE...
Rather: THE F.B.I., ACTING
UPON ORDERS FROM THE PRESIDENT,
SEALED OFF THE SPECIAL
PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE.
Thomas McBride: OUR OFFICES
HAVE BEEN SEALED BY THE F.B.I..
Reporter: HOW MANY?
McBride: SIX F.B.I. AGENTS
PRESENT.
Henry Ruth: I MUST SAY, I
SUPPOSE, THAT HUMAN EMOTIONS
TAKE OVER IN THIS KIND OF
OCCASION.
BECAUSE ONE THINKS THAT, IN
A DEMOCRACY, MAYBE, THIS WOULD
NOT HAPPEN.
AND THAT MAYBE WE COULD PROCEED,
IN GOOD FAITH, TO PROSECUTE
THOSE WHO HAVE VIOLATED THE
CRIMINAL LAW.
APPARENTLY, THAT IS NOT TO BE
THE CASE.
Stahl: THE PRESIDENT WAS ABLE
TO SEND F.B.I. AGENTS TO THE
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.
NOW WE'RE BEGINNING TO THINK,
MY GOD, IS HE GOING TO CALL OUTHE ARMY?
IS THIS A MILITARY TAKEOVER OF
THE GOVERNMENT?
Ben-Veniste: THIS WAS AS
CLOSE TO A COUP AS WE HAD EVER
COME IN OUR LIFETIME.
AND REMAINED SO UNTIL JANUARY 6,
Cronkite: SINCE THE FIRING
OF WATERGATE PROSECUTOR COX ON
SATURDAY, THE PRESSURE ON
PRESIDENT NIXON HAS BEEN
BUILDING.
Bob Schieffer: FOR THE FIRSTIME SINCE WATERGATE BECAME AN
ISSUE, THERE IS NOW SOME SERIOUS
TALK OF IMPEACHMENT.
Bruce Morton: TELEGRAMS
FLOODED INTO WASHINGTON.
SO DID CALLS.
WESTERN UNION AND THE
CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD, BOTH HIRED
EXTRA HELP.
Bernstein: THE FIRESTORM
CREATED BY THIS, MADE IAPPARENT TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
AND TO SO MUCH OF THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE THAT, YES, EVERYTHING
THAT WE WERE WRITING ABOUT,
THERE WAS A COVER-UP GOING ON TO
HIDE SOMETHING THAT WAS OF AWFUL
MAGNITUDE.
Ben-Veniste: THIS WAS BIG.
SO WHY DID NIXON DO IT?
"HE MUST BE HIDING SOMETHING"
WAS THE ONLY LOGICAL CONCLUSION.
AND IN FACT, HE WAS.
Cronkite: REPUBLICAN
GOVERNORS REPORTED THAPRESIDENT NIXON ASSURED THEM
PRIVATELY YESTERDAY, THAT HE
KNEW OF NO NEW WATERGATE BOMBS
WAITING TO GO OFF.
WELL, TODAY ANOTHER ONE DID GO
OFF, IN THE FEDERAL COURTROOM OF
JUDGE JOHN SIRICA.
Fred Graham: AN 18-MINUTE
PORTION OF A SUBPOENAED, TAPED
CONVERSATION BETWEEN PRESIDENNIXON AND H.R. HALDEMAN CONTAINS
NO WORDS, JUST AN AUDIBLE TONE.
( TONE ON TAPE )
THE GAP OCCURRED IN THE CRUCIAL
MEETING BETWEEN HALDEMAN AND
MR. NIXON IN THE WHITE HOUSE ON
JUNE 20.
Ben-Veniste: WE'RE GOING TO
INVESTIGATE FULLY AND COMPLETELY
AS WE'VE INDICATED IN COURT...
THE WHITE HOUSE TRIED TO BLAME
THE 18 AND A HALF MINUTES ON
ROSE MARY WOODS.
Graham: ROSE MARY WOODS,
PRESIDENT NIXON'S PERSONAL
SECRETARY, PLAYED A PORTION OF
ONE TAPE TO SHOW HOW SHE HAD
APPARENTLY ERASED PART OF ONE
SUBPOENAED CONVERSATION.
Stahl: THIS POOR WOMAN, SHE'S
MADE TO DEMONSTRATE PHYSICALLY
HOW SHE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE
ERASED THE TAPE INADVERTENTLY.
HOW SHE GOT A PHONE CALL AND SHE
TURNED AROUND AND TWISTED.
AND THE JUDGE JUST MAKES
IT CLEAR HE DOESN'T ACCEPT THIS
AT ALL.
Graham: MR. BULL, WHAT WAS
THE PURPOSE OF PREPARING THESE
TRANSCRIPTS OR SUMMARIES BY ROSE
MARY WOODS?
Bull: I DO NOT KNOW, SIR.
I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT NEITHER
THE PRESIDENT NOR ROSE WOODS HAD
ANYTHING TO DO WITH MAKING ANY
DELIBERATE ERASURES ON A TAPE.
I'M THE ONLY GUY WHO WOULD
HAVE KNOWN HOW TO DO IT, AND I
DIDN'T.
AFTER THE 18.5-MINUTE GAP HAD
BEEN DISCOVERED, I SUPPOSE THE
WALLS REALLY STARTED CLOSING IN.
IT BECAME A VERY CONSTRICTING
PERIOD OF TIME.
AND SOME PEOPLE WERE LEAVING.
SOME PEOPLE WERE BEING INDICTED.
AND SO, IT WAS BECOMING
INCREASINGLY GRIM.
Cronkite: THE WATERGATE GRAND
JURY TODAY INDICTED SEVEN FORMER
TOP-LEVEL NIXON ADMINISTRATION
AND CAMPAIGN AIDES FOR PLOTTING
TO COVER UP THE SCANDAL.
ONE OF THE ALLEGATIONS IN THE
INDICTMENT CONTAINED THE
IMPLICATION THAT PRESIDENT NIXON
HIMSELF KNEW ABOUT THE COVER-UP.
Rather: THE ACCUSED INCLUDED
ALL FOUR OF PRESIDENT NIXON'S
FORMER TOP ADVISORS.
ALL SEVEN OF THE MEN INDICTED
TODAY WERE CHARGED WITH
CONSPIRACY.
SOME OF THE CHARGES ALSO
INCLUDED PERJURY, LYING UNDER
OATH, AND OBSTRUCTION OF
JUSTICE.
Stahl: THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO
RICHARD NIXON.
HIS CONFIDANTES, THE PEOPLE HE
TRUSTED.
THE ONLY PEOPLE HE TRUSTED.
NOW INDICTED.
IT WAS SOMETHING.
WOW.
Rather: OVERSHADOWING WHAHAPPENS TO THOSE SEVEN MEN IS
THE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION:
WHAT DOES TODAY'S DEVELOPMENMEAN FOR RICHARD NIXON?
FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, IS THE WORST NOW OVER,
OR ONLY BEGINNING?
Nixon: THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES
OF DISCOURAGEMENT IN AMERICA,
BUT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE NOA NATION OF QUITTERS.
WE ARE A NATION THAT WILL KEEP
FIGHTING ON UNTIL WE SUCCEED.
( APPLAUSE )
Rather: RUMORS, SCENARIOS AND
REPORTS ABOUT THE PRESIDENPOSSIBLY STEPPING ASIDE OR
STEPPING DOWN, NOW OR LATER, ARE
DESCRIBED BY HIS AIDES AS,
"BALONEY."
Reporter: AT THIS POINT, ARE
YOU SATISFIED WITH THE WAY
PRESIDENT NIXON IS HANDLING THE
WATERGATE SITUATION?
Goldwater: I THINK HE'S DOING
IT ABOUT THE ONLY WAY THAT HE
CAN, WITH NO EVIDENCE AT ALL
EVER BEEN POINTED AT HIM OF ANY
WRONGDOING.
MISTAKES IN JUDGEMENTS, YES,
BUT, UH, HERE'S A MAN THAT SOME
PEOPLE HAVE JUDGED GUILTY
WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE, WHICH IS
CONTRARY TO THE AMERICAN SYSTEM.
Rather: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
Nixon: GOOD EVENING.
I HAVE ASKED FOR THIS TIME
TONIGHT IN ORDER TO ANNOUNCE MY
ANSWER TO THE HOUSE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE'S SUBPOENA FOR
ADDITIONAL WATERGATE TAPES.
IN THESE FOLDERS THAT YOU SEE
OVER HERE ON MY LEFT ARE MORE
THAN 1,200 PAGES OF TRANSCRIPTS
OF PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS I
PARTICIPATED IN.
THESE TRANSCRIPTS WILL SHOW THAWHAT I HAVE STATED FROM THE
BEGINNING TO BE THE TRUTH HAS
BEEN THE TRUTH.
Stahl: SO RICHARD NIXON
RELEASES HIS VERSION OF THE
TAPES, TRANSCRIPTS THAT WERE
DONE IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
Cronkite: THE TRANSCRIPTS
SUBMITTED BY THE WHITE HOUSE
YESTERDAY ARE NOT THE ENTIRE
RECORD WITH MANY PLACES SIMPLY
DESCRIBED AS UNINTELLIGIBLE.'
THEY ARE EDITED.
THE WHITE HOUSE HAS SUBMITTED
ONLY MATERIAL IT CONSIDERS
RELEVANT TO THE WATERGATE
INVESTIGATION.
Stahl: THE TRANSCRIPTS WERE A
COVER-UP.
YOU KNEW IT.
IT BACKFIRED ON HIM, RELEASING
HIS VERSION OF THE TAPES BECAUSE
BY THEN, HE HAD A CREDIBILITY
PROBLEM.
AND THESE TRANSCRIPTS WERE
INCREDIBLE.
Graham: IN A LANDMARK
DECISION, THE SUPREME COURRULED, 8 TO NOTHING, THAPRESIDENT NIXON MUST TURN OVER
64 SUBPOENAED WHITE HOUSE TAPES.
Henry Ruth: FOR THE FIRSTIME, YOU REALLY HAD A RULING
THAT A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW.
THAT THE LAW WILL PREVAIL OVER A
PRESIDENT'S DESIRE TO KEEP
SOMETHING SECRET, EVEN THOUGH
THAT SOMETHING IS QUITE RELEVANTO PROVING A CRIME.
Peter Rodino: ALL THOSE IN
FAVOR, PLEASE SIGNIFY BY SAYING
AYE.'
MR. DONOHUE?
Harold Donohue: AYE.
MR. RANGEL?
Charles Rangel: AYE.
Cronkite: THE HOUSE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE VOTED TO RECOMMEND
THAT THE HOUSE IMPEACH PRESIDENNIXON.
IT WAS A SOLEMN MOMENT IN THE
COMMITTEE, AS IT VOTED ON THE
FIRST ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT,
CHARGING THE PRESIDENT WITH THE
WATERGATE COVER-UP.
27 MEMBERS HAVE VOTED AYE.'
11 MEMBERS HAVE VOTED NO.
Rodino: THAT RESOLUTION IS
ADOPTED AND WILL BE REPORTED TO
THE HOUSE.
Rather: WITH THE NEW
TRANSCRIPTS, THE PRESIDENISSUED A WRITTEN STATEMENT OF
HIS OWN.
IN IT, HE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT WHATHE TRANSCRIPTS SAY IS, AS MR.
NIXON PUTS IT, "AT VARIANCE"
WITH WHAT HE TOLD THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE ON OTHER OCCASIONS.
Ben-Veniste: THE SO-CALLED
"SMOKING GUN" TAPE WAS THE
DENOUEMENT THAT MARKED THE END
OF THE NIXON PRESIDENCY.
Haldeman: THE F.B.I. IS NOUNDER CONTROL.
THEIR INVESTIGATION IS NOW
LEADING INTO SOME PRODUCTIVE
AREAS.
AND IT GOES IN SOME DIRECTIONS
WE DON'T WANT IT TO GO.
Ben-Veniste: THAT HE ORDERED
TO HAVE THE C.I.A. INTERFERE
WITH THE F.B.I. INVESTIGATION
IN ORDER TO DELAY AND PERHAPS
DERAIL THE INVESTIGATION.
Haldeman: JUST SAY "STAY THE
HELL OUT OF THIS.
THIS IS UH, BUSINESS HERE WE
DON'T WANT YOU TO GO ANY FURTHER
ON."
Ben-Veniste: HERE WAS A TAPE
THAT SHOWED, CONTRARY TO
EVERYTHING NIXON HAD BEEN
SAYING, THAT HE KNEW ABOUT THE
COVER-UP FROM THE BEGINNING.
Nixon: THEY SHOULD CALL THE
F.B.I. IN AND SAY THAT WE WISH
FOR THE COUNTRY, DON'T GO ANY
FURTHER INTO THIS CASE," PERIOD!
Lano: THE SUGGESTION IS TO
HAVE THE DIRECTOR OF THE C.I.A.,
CONTACT THE F.B.I. AND SAY,
"HEY, CEASE AND DESIST.
UH, YOU'RE OUTSIDE YOUR
JURISDICTION."
HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ARRESTED ON
THE SPOT.
HE OBSTRUCTED JUSTICE.
Stahl: THERE WAS NO WAY HE
CULD MOVE FORWARD ONCE THE
SMOKING GUN TAPE CAME OUT AND IWAS CLEAR HE WAS INVOLVED IN THE
COVER-UP, NO QUESTION
WHATSOEVER.
Ben-Veniste: HIS PARTY
MEMBERS WERE DEVASTATED.
THEY WERE HUNG OUT TO DRY
BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN SUPPORTING
NIXON AND HAD BEEN TELLING THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC TO BELIEVE IN
NIXON'S DENIALS.
Goldwater: AND I JUST BLEW MY
STACK.
I SAID, "THIS IS ALL I'M GOING
TO TAKE.
I'M GOING UP AND TALK TO THE
PRESIDENT."
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL I'D
TALK ABOUT, BUT I WAS GOING TO
GO UP AND TALK TO HIM.
WE SAT THERE IN THE OVAL ROOM
AND THE PRESIDENT ACTED LIKE HE
JUST PLAYED GOLF AND JUST HAD A
HOLE-IN-ONE.
YOU'D NEVER THINK THIS GUY'S
TAIL WAS IN A CRACK.
FINALLY HE SAID TO ME, UH..
"BARRY, WHAT DO YOU THINK MY
CHANCES ARE IN THE SENATE?"
Woodward: GOLDWATER SAYS,
"MR. PRESIDENT, YOU HAVE FOUR
VOTES, AND ONE OF THEM IS NOMINE."
Bernstein: THAT'S WHEN NIXON
KNEW IT WAS OVER.
WHEN BARRY GOLDWATER SAID ONE OF
THEM IS NOT MINE, YOU DO NOHAVE MY VOTE.
NIXON KNEW IT WAS OVER.
THE MAN IN THAT HIGH
AUTHORITY, I FEEL LIKE SHOULD
KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN HIS
ADMINISTRATION.
HE WAS INFORMED SOME WAY, SHAPE
OR FORM!
HE HAS UH, SURROUNDED HIMSELF
WITH INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE BEEN
FOUND GUILTY.
HE'S TAKEN THE CRIME OUT OF THE
STREETS AND TAKEN IT RIGHT INTO
THE WHITE HOUSE.
Dash: NIXON SAID "I'M NOT A
CROOK."
IF HE MEANT BY THAT "I DIDN'STEAL ANY MONEY," YES, HE DIDN'STEAL ANY MONEY.
IT WOULD BE BETTER IF HE HAD.
WHAT HE DID WAS WORSE.
HIS BREACH OF TRUST, HIS LYING
TO THE PEOPLE, HIS CORRUPTION OF
OUR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENWAS EVEN WORSE.
AND IT BECAME VERY DANGEROUS.
AND I THINK THE PUBLIC WAS ANGRY
BECAUSE THEY SAW THE POTENTIAL
OF SUCH A PRESIDENT REALLY
DESTROYING DEMOCRATIC
GOVERNMENT.
TWO MINUTES AND 15 SECONDS TO
AIR PLEASE.
Nixon: OLLIE?
NO... ONLY THE CBS CREW NOW IS
TO BE IN THIS ROOM, DURING THIS,
ONLY THE CREW.
NO... THERE WILL BE NO PICTURES.
Bull: WHILE THE CAMERA CREW
WAS SETTING UP, I WALKED WITH
HIM ON HIS WAY TO GIVE THE
SPEECH.
I KNEW HIM TO BE A FIGHTER AND
THAT HE WOULD FIGHT.
UP UNTIL THE VERY END.
Nixon: GOOD EVENING.
IN ALL THE DECISIONS I HAVE MADE
IN MY PUBLIC LIFE, I HAVE ALWAYS
TRIED TO DO WHAT WAS BEST FOR
THE NATION.
Bull: UNCHARACTERISTICALLY,
HE ASKED MY OPINION AND HE SAID
DO YOU SUPPORT ME?
I SAID, MR. PRESIDENT, I'LL
SUPPORT YOU IN ANYTHING YOU WANTO DO.
I JUST DON'T PARTICULARLY LIKE
THIS ONE.
IT WAS A VERY GRIM CONCLUSION, I
HAD TO COME TO THAT, INDEED, IWAS OVER.
Nixon: THROUGHOUT THE LONG
AND DIFFICULT PERIOD OF
WATERGATE, I HAVE FELT IT WAS MY
DUTY TO PERSEVERE, TO MAKE EVERY
POSSIBLE EFFORT TO COMPLETE THE
TERM OF OFFICE TO WHICH YOU
ELECTED ME.
I HAVE NEVER BEEN A QUITTER.
TO LEAVE OFFICE BEFORE MY TERM
IS COMPLETED IS ABHORRENT TO
EVERY INSTINCT IN MY BODY.
BUT AS PRESIDENT, I MUST PUT THE
INTERESTS OF AMERICA FIRST.
THEREFORE, I SHALL RESIGN THE
PRESIDENCY, EFFECTIVE AT NOON
TOMORROW.
VICE PRESIDENT FORD WILL BE
SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT AT THAHOUR IN THIS OFFICE.
Chapin: THE TEARS WERE
CASCADING DOWN MY FACE.
IT WAS VERY TRAUMATIC, VERY SAD.
BUT I BELIEVE HE ACTED AS A
PATRIOT.
Deborah Sloan: HE HAD AN
AMAZING LEGACY AND NOW HIS
LEGACY WAS GOING TO BE
WATERGATE.
AND TO ME, THAT WAS JUSINCREDIBLY SAD.
Stahl: HAVING TO COME BEFORE
THE PUBLIC, DELIVER THAT SPEECH
WITHOUT BREAKING DOWN.
IT'S SO POWERFUL IN A HUMAN WAY.
Nixon: TO HAVE SERVED IN THIS
OFFICE IS TO HAVE FELT A VERY
PERSONAL SENSE OF KINSHIP WITH
EACH AND EVERY AMERICAN.
Stahl: I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW
OVER ALL THESE YEARS, I COULD
HAVE AN EMOTIONAL REACTION THAI DIDN'T HAVE AT THE TIME.
Nixon: IN LEAVING IT, I DO SO
WITH THIS PRAYER: MAY GOD'S
GRACE BE WITH YOU IN ALL THE
DAYS AHEAD.
Bull: WHEN THE PRESIDENFINISHED HIS SPEECH, IT FELL TO
ME TO KIND OF PACK UP SOME
PERSONAL BELONGINGS OF HIS.
HE HAD ON HIS DESK A-- I GUESS
IT WAS A CIGAR BOX OR SOME SOROF A SILVER BOX, AND I PICKED UP
THE BOX, NOT MEANING TO OPEN IT,
AND IT'S PLAYING "HAIL TO THE
CHIEF."
( "HAIL TO THE CHIEF" )
IT WAS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS, IF
IT HAD BEEN A MOVIE, THE
CONCLUDING TITLE WOULD SAY "THE
END."
Gerald Ford: MY FELLOW
AMERICANS, OUR LONG NATIONAL
NIGHTMARE IS OVER.
AS WE BIND UP THE INTERNAL
WOUNDS OF WATERGATE, MORE
PAINFUL AND MORE POISONOUS THAN
THOSE OF FOREIGN WARS, LEBROTHERLY LOVE PURGE OUR HEARTS
OF SUSPICION AND OF HATE.
Rather: I'M DAN RATHER.
PRESIDENT FORD HAS GRANTED
RICHARD NIXON A "FULL, FREE, AND
ABSOLUTE PARDON FOR ALL OFFENSES
THE FORMER PRESIDENT COMMITTED,
OR MAY HAVE COMMITTED WHILE IN
OFFICE."
Ford: MY CONCERN IS THE
IMMEDIATE FUTURE OF THIS GREACOUNTRY.
Woodward: YOU CALLED ME UP,
AND LET ME QUOTE, I'LL NEVER
FORGET WHAT YOU SAID, "HAVE YOU
HEARD?"
I SAID, "NO, I WAS ASLEEP.
THE SON OF A BITCH PARDONED THE
SON OF A BITCH."
Bernstein: WE THOUGHT AT THE
BEGINNING THAT IT WAS A TERRIBLE
ACT AGAINST THE NATIONAL
INTEREST.
Lano: I FELT THAT HE SHOULD
HAVE PROBABLY STOOD IN THE WELL
WITH THE MITCHELL, HALDEMAN AND
EHRLICHMAN AND COLSON.
BECAUSE HE INTERFERED WITH THE
INVESTIGATION.
Rather: FOR MYSELF, THE
SYSTEM OF JUSTICE, OUR SENSE OF
JUSTICE IN THIS COUNTRY, EQUAL
JUSTICE UNDER THE LAW, DEMANDS
ACCOUNTABILITY.
IN THIS CASE THERE'S BEEN NO
ACCOUNTABILITY.
Woodward: WE HAD IT WRONG.
Bernstein: HE KNEW IF HE DID
THIS IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, HE WOULD
LOSE THE PRESIDENCY IN THE NEXELECTION, WHICH OF COURSE
HAPPENED.
UNIQUE, PROBABLY IN OUR HISTORY,
THAT A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES WOULD MAKE THASACRIFICE.
Ford: MY CONSCIENCE TELLS ME
THAT ONLY I AS PRESIDENT HAVE
THE CONSTITUTIONAL POWER TO
FIRMLY SHUT AND SEAL THIS BOOK.
Stahl: I THOUGHT IT WAS ONE
OF THE MOST HEROIC ACTS IN
AMERICAN HISTORY.
HE DIDN'T PUT HIS FUTURE FIRST.
HE PUT THE HEALING OF THE
COUNTRY FIRST.
Rather: THIS YEAR, ESPECIALLY
THE PAST FEW MONTHS AND WEEKS,
HAVE BEEN FILLED WITH
EXTRAORDINARY DAYS.
TODAY WAS ANOTHER ONE THAHISTORIANS WILL BE WRITING ABOUAND THINKING ABOUT FOR YEARS TO
COME.
Bernstein: IT'S REALLY
INTERESTING TO LOOK AT THE ROLE
OF REPUBLICANS IN WATERGATE AND
COMPARE THE ROLE OF REPUBLICANS
TODAY IN THE DONALD TRUMP
SITUATION, BECAUSE HERE YOU HAVE
TWO PRESIDENTS UNIQUE IN OUR
HISTORY, WHO SOUGHT TO UNDERMINE
THE VERY BASIS OF DEMOCRACY IN
THE UNITED STATES.
USA!
USA!
USA!
Trump: YOU CAN'T EVER ACCEPWHEN THEY STEAL AND RIG AND ROB.
YOU CAN'T ACCEPT.
Stahl: I SEE PARALLELS ALL
THE TIME.
NIXON WAS DARK AND PARANOID.
THAT CREATED TURMOIL IN THE
COUNTRY.
TRUMP, CONSPIRATORIAL.
THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE WHO
ABSORBED THAT AND MADE IT THEM.
DO YOU TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THE COUNTRY BEING DIVIDED
AGAINST ITSELF?
Trump: I'D LIKE NOT TO, BUWHEN PEOPLE PUT OUT PHONY WITCH
HUNTS, WHEN THEY SPY ON YOUR
CAMPAIGN, YOU HAVE TO FIGHBACK.
Stahl: ALL THROUGH THE TRUMP
PRESIDENCY, I KEPT COMPARING
WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE COUNTRY
TO WHAT WAS GOING ON THEN.
THE QUESTIONS ABOUT FAITH IN OUR
INSTITUTION, BOTH TIMES, WAS
ALWAYS PROMINENT.
Liz Cheney: I SAY THIS, TO MY
REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES WHO ARE
DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE.
THERE WILL COME A DAY WHEN
DONALD TRUMP IS GONE, BUT YOUR
DISHONOR WILL REMAIN.
Hugh Sloan: THE CHECKS AND
BALANCES THAT ULTIMATELY WORKED
TO EXPOSE WATERGATE AND BRING
JUSTICE, IF YOU WILL.
I'M NOT SURE ALL THOSE
MECHANISMS WOULD WORK TODAY IF
PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, AND WE'RE
PRETTY CLOSE TO THAT POINT AS
FAR AS I'M CONCERNED.
Deborah Sloan: AT THE VERY
END, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WENTO THE PRESIDENT AND SAID YOU
HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO
RESIGN, YOU HAVE LOST THE FAITH
OF THE PEOPLE.
IN THOSE DAYS YOU HAD PEOPLE WHO
PUT THEIR COUNTRY ABOVE THEIR
PARTY.
Goldwater: MR. NIXON HURT THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY AND HE HURAMERICA.
FRANKLY, I DON'T THINK HE SHOULD
EVER BE FORGIVEN.
HE CAME AS CLOSE TO DESTROYING
THIS COUNTRY AS ANY ONE MAN IN
THAT OFFICE EVER HAS COME.
Bull: ON AUGUST 9th, PRIOR TO
THE EFFECTIVE TIME OF HIS
RESIGNATION, THE PRESIDENT GAVE
AN ADDRESS TO THE STAFF IN THE
EAST ROOM OF THE WHITE HOUSE.
IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I THINK
THAT THE PUBLIC HAD REALLY SEEN
RICHARD NIXON, THE MAN.
Nixon: SURE, WE HAVE DONE
SOME THINGS WRONG IN THIS
ADMINISTRATION, AND THE TOP MAN
ALWAYS TAKES THE RESPONSIBILITY,
AND I HAVE NEVER DUCKED IT.
NO MAN OR NO WOMAN EVER PROFITED
AT THE PUBLIC EXPENSE.
MISTAKES, YES.
BUT FOR PERSONAL GAIN, NEVER.
Stahl: THE WAY THIS IS SHOT,
YOU'RE WATCHING PAT NIXON.
SHE LOOKS NUMB.
THE WOMAN LOOKS NUMB.
Nixon: ALWAYS GIVE YOUR BEST,
NEVER GET DISCOURAGED, NEVER BE
PETTY.
Woodward: THAT IS SUCH AN
AMAZING MOMENT IN PRESIDENTIAL
HISTORY.
Bernstein: IT WAS A KIND OF
SELF EXAMINATION AND TOUR OF HIS
PSYCHE.
Nixon: ALWAYS REMEMBER,
OTHERS MAY HATE YOU, BUT THOSE
WHO HATE YOU DON'T WIN UNLESS
YOU HATE THEM, AND THEN YOU
DESTROY YOURSELF.
Woodward: THAT SENSE OF THE
DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF HATE AND
THE SELF AND NIXON'S CLEAR,
MAYBE MOMENTARY, MAYBE ETERNAL
REALIZATION OF THAT IS STUNNING.
Chapin: LET ME SAY THIS, THE
INDICTMENTS HANDED DOWN TODAY
HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH MY WORK
WHILE I WAS IN THE EMPLOY OF THE
ADMINISTRATION.
I HAVE COMPLETE FAITH IN THE
PRESIDENT, I HAD IT WHEN I TOOK
MY JOB AS A YOUNG MAN WHEN I WAS
28, AND I HAVE IT TODAY.
I WENT TO PRISON FOR NINE MONTHS
BECAUSE SOMEBODY THOUGHT I MADE
FALSE AND MISLEADING STATEMENTS,
AND MY WORD IS INCREDIBLY
IMPORTANT TO ME.
I DO MY VERY BEST TO BE AS
TRUTHFUL AS I POSSIBLY CAN.
AND THAT HOPEFULLY WILL HELP
TAKE CARE OF HOW HISTORY JUDGES
ME.
Hoback Miller: I'M REALLY
PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF
HISTORY.
I THINK IT'S SAVED OUR DEMOCRACY
THEN, AT THIS POINT, I'M REALLY
PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF
THAT.
Senator Ervin: YOUR TESTIMONY
AND YOUR FORTHRIGHTNESS HAVE
RENEWED MY FAITH IN THE OLD
ADAGE THAT AN HONEST MAN IS THE
NOBLEST WORK OF GOD.
Senator Baker: WERE YOU AWARE
OF ANY DEVICES THAT WERE
INSTALLED IN THE EXECUTIVE
OFFICE BUILDING OF THE
PRESIDENT?
Butterfield: YES, SIR.
I THINK I MAY HAVE DONE A
SERVICE TO THE COUNTRY.
IT WAS A SHAME, THAT HIS
PRESIDENCY HAD TO END WITH A
RESIGNATION, BUT IT WAS A GOOD
THING.
IT WAS THE RIGHT THING.
IT WAS JUSTICE.
JUSTICE SERVED.
( APPLAUSE )
Stahl: THIS IMAGE IS SO
POWERFUL, ACTUALLY.
IT IS A MOMENT OF DEFIANCE, IN A
WAY.
HA!
I'M NOT FINISHED YET.
BUT HE WAS.
Bull: RICHARD NIXON HAD BEEN
MOVED FROM THE LOWEST POINT TO
THE HIGHEST POINT, AND ACHIEVED
SO MUCH IN HIS PRESIDENCY.
AND THEN THE BALLOON POPPED.
Nixon: TO THOSE WHO SAY,
"WILL YOU APOLOGIZE?
ARE YOU SORRY?"
THERE'S NO WAY THAT YOU COULD
APOLOGIZE THAT IS MORE ELOQUENT,
MORE DECISIVE, MORE FINITE,
WHICH WOULD EXCEED RESIGNING THE
PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES.
THAT SAID IT ALL, AND I DON'INTEND TO SAY ANY MORE.