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00:11F.B.I. Chief J. Edgar Hoover's death had a hidden side effect,
00:16unleashing Nixon's impulse to gather intelligence on his enemies illegally.
00:21And six weeks later, the Watergate break-in occurred.
00:26Congressman Wright Patman launched an investigation into the burglary.
00:30But the Nixon White House used blackmail and political pressure to thwart him.
00:35One more opponent sidelined.
00:48Okay.
00:49Put yourself back in time to the year 1972.
00:53Like a lot of people, you're watching Watergate unfold and trying to make sense of it.
00:58When do you think it would have hit you?
01:00That the whole thing could be a massive conspiracy.
01:07If you had a dark hunch that you were not being told the full story,
01:13I think December 8th, 1972 would have been a day when your ears perked up a little bit.
01:20Good evening.
01:21There's been a bad plane crash in Chicago near Midway Airport.
01:32On that snowy afternoon, United Airlines Flight 553 was a minute away from landing at Midway Airport in Chicago
01:40when it crashed on a residential street on the city's south side.
01:44We heard this jet and I looked and I saw the plane hit the garage and go through it.
01:52And then I saw it go up in flames and I ran over there and I could hear people screaming
01:57and people were trying to get in.
02:01I'm telling you about this plane crash because it happened about six months after the Watergate break-in.
02:07Because among the dead was Dorothy Hunt, the wife of E. Howard Hunt, one of the burglary's masterminds.
02:15Because when they found her body, she was carrying $10,000 in cash,
02:19which, seeing as Hunt was about to testify about his involvement in the burglary,
02:24looked like it may have been hush money.
02:26There was a lot of screaming and we opened that hatch to crawl out, but we're already inside somebody's house.
02:34And because an abnormally large number of FBI agents, around 50 or so, arrived at the site directly after the
02:41crash.
02:41You'll leave the investigation up to the federal authorities?
02:44Well, the men are doing everything they can.
02:47And finally, because the day after, Richard Nixon nominated the head of his infamous plumbers unit
02:54to the position of Undersecretary of Transportation,
02:57giving him direct control over the agency that would be investigating the crash.
03:02Any indication why the plane was there, Loser?
03:04No, but the investigating team will start its work tonight when they arrive.
03:12Now, do I think Nixon orchestrated a plane crash to eliminate Hunt's wife so that she wouldn't squeal?
03:18No. That's insane.
03:23But at the time of the crash, if you had said that Nixon was involved in Watergate,
03:28most Americans would have called you insane, too.
03:32If you want to know what it was like to try to understand Watergate as it was happening,
03:36to try to figure out what was actually true and what was a crackpot theory,
03:41I think the crash illustrates a tension that you would have felt back then,
03:45a tension that delayed Watergate in becoming a massive story.
03:49I think the people in this country have a right to know if the United Airlines is being used to
03:54get rid of a witness.
03:55Because Watergate was such uncharted territory, it presented a unique challenge for anyone trying to make sense of it.
04:04How do you tell the difference between a coincidence and a conspiracy?
04:09We shall try tonight to pull together the threads of this amazing story,
04:14quite unlike any in our modern American history.
04:17...responsibility to defend this great office against false charges.
04:23What was it like to live through Watergate without knowing how it was all going to end?
04:28...causing this nation to neglect matters of far greater importance.
04:35One way to find out is to look at that moment of American history
04:40as seen through the eyes of the people who lived it,
04:43back when they had no idea what was coming.
04:46If we learn the important lessons of Watergate,
04:48we can emerge from this experience a better and a stronger nation.
04:54I'm Leon Nafok.
04:56This is Slow Burn.
05:00Slow Burn
05:14The crash of United Airlines Flight 553 got a lot of coverage on both television and in the papers.
05:20And while most of the press focused on the death toll and what may have gone wrong with the plane,
05:24there was someone, a much less mainstream voice,
05:28who covered the crash from a very different angle.
05:32Her name was May Brussel.
05:38This is Dialogue Conspiracy,
05:41a public affairs presentation of KLRB News.
05:45Hello, and we'll get right into the events of the week, Dialogue Conspiracy.
05:50And we're going to start right off with the Watergate affair.
05:54Brussel's radio show was broadcast out of KLRB,
05:58a small left-wing FM rock station in California.
06:02She had been following the Watergate story closely from the beginning.
06:06But when Howard Hunt's wife Dorothy died,
06:09Brussel did not think it was just a coincidence.
06:11I just want to mention something which was shocking.
06:14If you've been following the Watergate story and listening to my program,
06:18we talk about Howard Hunt,
06:20and Mrs. Howard Hunt died on that plane crash in Chicago December the 8th,
06:25carrying money.
06:26She also had some ideas about the cash that Dorothy Hunt was carrying at the time of the incident.
06:31The money came from El Paso gas.
06:33It had something to do with John Mitchell.
06:35There were cyanide traces in the bloodstream of the pilot.
06:39I think you could kind of see where she was going with all this.
06:42The people in this country have a right to know
06:44if the United Airlines is being used
06:46to get rid of a witness of a conspiracy trial like the Watergate.
06:51For May Brussel,
06:53United Flight 553 was another dot that she could connect
06:56in the ever-expanding conspiracy of Watergate.
07:00And while she had some pretty far-fetched ideas about it,
07:03she was one of the only people at the time
07:05to really pay attention to Martha Mitchell.
07:07Martha Mitchell got on the telephone on Thursday from out in California.
07:11She said that if you could see me, you wouldn't believe me.
07:14I'm black and blue.
07:15I'm a political prisoner.
07:17They left me in California with absolutely no information,
07:21and they don't want me to talk.
07:23She's preparing for a show.
07:24Is anyone editing her?
07:26No.
07:28No.
07:29Yeah, editing.
07:29That's a good question about May Brussel.
07:31A lot of us suggested,
07:34May, talk slower.
07:35May, stop and explain a little bit about this.
07:40My name is David Bean,
07:41and I was program director at KLRB FM Radio
07:45while May Brussel was broadcasting her program.
07:48May felt an affinity with Martha Mitchell.
07:52And you can place all the blame right on the White House.
07:55Because she felt Martha Mitchell was being muzzled,
07:59and May knew she was right.
08:03And it wasn't just Martha.
08:05May Brussel was one of the first public voices to assert,
08:08as it was happening,
08:09that Watergate was a government cover-up.
08:11The way the government covers up things when they're caught
08:14and show the parallel to the way they covered up
08:16being caught in the office of the Democratic Party this week.
08:21May sourced her information from newspapers, primarily.
08:26She was cutting out clippings.
08:27She was filing the clippings in boxes.
08:31She'd say, you know,
08:32this newspaper just reported this,
08:34and this guy did this,
08:35and that means this guy,
08:37and they don't even know about the relationship
08:39to another guy that I've discovered.
08:42You know, I just filed up the newspaper articles
08:44when I cut the paper,
08:45even because I take eight papers a day
08:46and I have a section of things to read right away,
08:48and then things I can read later.
08:50And then the right-of-way I separate
08:52into whether I want to copy them and cross-file them
08:54or put them in particular categories.
08:57Her whole life became this research.
09:02Now, I feel compelled to say here
09:04that Brussel covered a lot of ground.
09:06And she espoused many theories
09:08that I just don't believe in.
09:10She thought the government
09:11was using chemical weapons as mind control.
09:14The CIA has a laboratory
09:15and facilities to spread germ warfare
09:18inside the USA,
09:19and I don't have any doubt
09:20that they will be doing this.
09:22Also, she was really fixated
09:24on dune buggies.
09:26Brussel believed that they were essential
09:28to the military-industrial complex
09:30and were being used to carry out
09:32all kinds of covert operations.
09:34He gave a lot of warning
09:36about the dune buggy scene
09:37in the last few months
09:38with plans in mind
09:40that one is to plow into the hippie communes
09:43and the other is to kill 63 million minority people.
09:46That's right, dune buggies.
09:49But for someone who hosted a show
09:51called Dialogue Conspiracy,
09:53her background was pretty conventional.
09:56My heart is always looking round.
10:01May Brussel grew up
10:03in a wealthy Los Angeles family
10:04descended from a California department store owner.
10:07It was a pretty comfortable upbringing
10:09with dinner parties and vacations.
10:12She studied philosophy at Stanford.
10:15Afterwards, she got married
10:17and settled into a quiet life
10:18as a stay-at-home mother in L.A.
10:20She said that during this period,
10:22she was just a housewife,
10:24interested in tennis courts,
10:25dancing lessons,
10:27and orthodonture for her children.
10:30That life ended
10:31on November 22, 1963.
10:42Put me on, Phil.
10:43Put me on.
10:45Phil, am I on?
10:47We understand there is a bit of shooting.
10:49We know it's the presidential car.
10:51You can see Mrs. Kennedy's pink suit.
10:52There's a secret service man
10:53spread eagle over the top of the car.
10:56Just a moment.
10:57Just a moment.
10:57We have a bulletin coming in.
10:59President Kennedy has been assassinated.
11:02It's official now.
11:03The president is dead.
11:07JFK's assassination transformed
11:09how May Brussel saw the world.
11:11And she no longer felt
11:12the government could be trusted.
11:14At the time that John Kennedy was killed,
11:16the answers were so pat in the news media.
11:18I wanted to know what kind of a world
11:20I was going to raise my family in.
11:22She disputed the Warren Commission's conclusion
11:25that Kennedy's killer, Lee Harvey Oswald,
11:27had acted alone.
11:28The trajectory of the bullet has been questioned.
11:30We want the undeveloped x-rays of the body.
11:34We want the names of the people involved.
11:36And to better understand what she suspected
11:38was a cover-up,
11:39for Christmas,
11:40she bought herself all 26 volumes
11:42of the Commission's findings.
11:43I really wanted to know
11:45if Oswald was a patsy.
11:47And your findings?
11:50Are Oswald was a patsy?
11:53It became a splitting point
11:55with her husband
11:56that he didn't like her
11:57doing this Kennedy research.
12:01But May was an incredibly strong,
12:04unique woman.
12:06She went out on her own.
12:08She took her life,
12:10her thoughts,
12:11her beliefs,
12:11and her research,
12:12moved to Carmel, California
12:14with her kids,
12:17and did what she was meant to do.
12:20She started to give lectures.
12:22And by 1971,
12:23she had a whole Sunday afternoon radio show
12:26on KLRB,
12:27devoted to her theories
12:28on the JFK assassination.
12:30Just like they tried to say
12:31that Oswald was a communist
12:35and killed John Kennedy
12:36when actually the anti-Castric Cubans
12:39were involved.
12:39Which meant that when Watergate
12:41happened the following year,
12:43May Brussels was primed
12:44and ready for it.
12:45History will prove
12:47that my research is accurate
12:48right down to the last sentence.
12:51Seven years,
12:52and now it's all coming to...
12:54It's all coming home.
12:55I never thought it was...
12:55On her first show
12:56after the break-in,
12:57she latched onto something
12:59that she firmly believed
13:00was not a coincidence.
13:01But it's interesting
13:02that the anti-Castro Cubans
13:04were in this office,
13:06and I wonder who they were
13:07because I have it all here
13:08and time's running out.
13:10As her research
13:11into the JFK assassination
13:12expanded,
13:13she began to notice
13:14a recurring subplot
13:15playing in the background,
13:17Cubans doing secret work
13:19for the American government.
13:20The cast of characters,
13:21all those people
13:22were involved
13:23with the Bay of Pigs invasion.
13:25It was a curious thread to pull,
13:27but she was right to.
13:29Because once you start
13:30putting together
13:31all the reasons
13:32those four Cuban expats
13:33were there that night,
13:35you start going
13:36to some pretty interesting places.
14:03program that was initiated
14:05by the United States government
14:07to bring the children of the underground
14:10who were fighting against the Castro regime
14:13to the United States while their parents were fighting.
14:17Over 14,000 miners came that way.
14:21I was one of them.
14:24My name is Maria de los Ángeles Torres.
14:26I'm a political scientist,
14:27and I study and write about Cuban exiles.
14:30Cuba was a country that aspired
14:32to have its own independent government
14:33for democratic institutions.
14:36This is only the beginning.
14:38The last battle will be fought in the capital.
14:41You can be sure.
14:45I remember when Fidel came into Havana,
14:48my father picked me up, took me,
14:50and, you know, we went and greeted the rebels,
14:52and finally we're going to get a government
14:55that responds to the people.
15:01Fidel had promised elections,
15:03and he decided not to hold them.
15:07All of a sudden, everything that you were doing
15:10was subject to somebody listening
15:13and somebody reporting on you.
15:16So when Fidel starts using firing squads
15:20and killing some 17, 18, 19-year-olds
15:25who had just been supporters of him,
15:28but now we're demanding that he bring democracy in elections,
15:33that's where I think a lot of people turned.
15:43turned and fled to America,
15:45where many landed in Miami.
15:49These newly arrived exiles left their homeland
15:52because they had been living in fear,
15:54because in some cases,
15:55they'd seen loved ones killed in the streets
15:57all because of a communist dictator.
16:00So in the early 1960s,
16:02all of a sudden,
16:03there was a growing army of very motivated men
16:05looking to do all they could to fight communism,
16:09this time on American soil.
16:11It created a geopolitical match made in heaven,
16:15or so it seemed at the time.
16:20On April 17th, 1961,
16:22a newly formed military group of Cuban exiles,
16:25trained and funded by the CIA,
16:28invaded Cuba and tried to overthrow Fidel Castro.
16:31Here on the beaches around the Bay of Pigs,
16:33the invasion floundered.
16:35Those able to move beyond the beaches
16:37were trapped in swamp for high growth,
16:39which was burned off.
16:40Communication disappeared
16:41with the sinking of a liberty ship
16:43which carried all the signal equipment
16:45and much ammunition.
16:46The Bay of Pigs invasion failed miserably,
16:49and most of the hundreds of Cubans who fought
16:51were either killed or taken prisoner.
16:54It is not the first time
16:55that communist tanks
16:57have rolled over gallant men and women
16:59fighting to redeem the independence of their homeland.
17:05Right after the failure of Bay of Pigs,
17:08there are people who continue
17:10to have an aspiration of overthrowing the government,
17:13and indeed,
17:14the Kennedy administration
17:16continues with its plans to overthrow the government.
17:19This time, it's more covert.
17:22It is entitled Operation Mongoose.
17:25From its headquarters in Miami,
17:28Operation Mongoose launched hundreds of covert CIA operations
17:31deploying Cuban exiles.
17:35Bay of Pigs.
17:36Bay of Pigs veteran and future Watergate burglar Eugenio Martinez.
17:47I was recruited by a member of the CIA.
17:53I did not know what CIA really, what it means.
17:57They said that they were rich men with some other money,
18:02and they want to help us to fight castles.
18:07They were killing people,
18:09and we were against those who were killing our people.
18:14We were taking weapons to our people in Cuba,
18:19and we were establishing connections, you know,
18:23so we could contact the people inside.
18:49This went on all throughout the 1960s.
18:52Hundreds of little jobs like this,
18:54denting communist Cuba whenever possible,
18:57with the backdrop of the Cold War providing just cause.
19:09One of the grim realities of American foreign policy
19:12was a communist state 90 miles off the coast of Florida.
19:15The rhetorics of anti-communism were alive and well in the United States
19:20and maybe felt a little bit more personally in the Cuban exile community.
19:26These are soldiers, freedom fighters,
19:29who take very seriously their tasks of combating communism.
19:34I think there's a certain vulnerability that allows for the CIA
19:40and people like Howard Hunt to then prey on their sentiments.
19:46It was Hunt who employed a handful of Cubans, Martinez among them,
19:50to provide extra security for J. Edgar Hoover's memorial service.
20:12It was an unusual service in several ways.
20:16For one thing, security was unusually heavy around the National Presbyterian Center,
20:20apparently on the theory that someone might try to disrupt today's solemn ceremony,
20:25but no one did.
20:26By June of 1972, the Cubans had built a reputation
20:29for pulling off a unique brand of not exactly official political work.
20:33If you were invited by the President of the United States for a job,
20:38it's very difficult that you don't accept it.
20:41I mean, for me it was an honor and a pleasure.
20:45We were trying to be a good citizen
20:49by giving a good job for the American government.
20:56That was all.
21:01I can imagine all the Watergate burglars looking back on that night felt the same way.
21:05It was technically wrong,
21:07but they were the good guys,
21:09fighting the good fight.
21:11But I think if there's one guy in this whole story
21:14who took that most to heart,
21:15it was the one who designed the break-in.
21:25Howard Hunt certainly styled himself as this sort of James Bond figure.
21:29He was a CIA operative
21:31who had been one of the people in charge of the Bay of Pigs operation.
21:35Eduardo, he was a strange individual.
21:40By the way,
21:41Martinez knew Howard Hunt by his Bay of Pigs known to Gare.
21:44Eduardo.
21:45He did not impress me as the agent of the CIA or whatever.
21:50He was dedicated to make movies.
21:54Rolling.
21:56Action.
21:57Eduardo era un escritor
21:59y vivía la historia de el en esto.
22:05Yes, one of the architects of the Watergate break-in
22:08also wrote spy novels.
22:12The Violent Ones,
22:13Where Murder Waits,
22:15The Venus Probe.
22:17These are just a few that he wrote under various pseudonyms.
22:20And if you read my personal favorite,
22:22The Coven,
22:23published the very same year that Hunt orchestrated Watergate,
22:26you might come away with a better idea
22:28for why this whole thing happened.
22:29The plot was basically our indefatigable sort of stalwart investigator,
22:36who's clearly a doppelganger for the real Howard Hunt,
22:42discovers that a figure who very closely resembles Edward Kennedy,
22:47Senator Kennedy,
22:49was actually running a literal satanic death cult.
23:02You almost see an allegory of that way of seeing the world.
23:09People who believed to the core of their being
23:12that politics was a battle between the forces of good
23:15and the forces of evil,
23:16and therefore, basically,
23:19the ends justified any means.
23:24Eso iba a hacer mi última operación.
23:27No me gustaba la forma en que Eduardo operaba.
23:32Y yo lo dije que esa iba a ser la última operación que yo así.
23:45There were actually a few attempts made before June 17th
23:48to break into the DNC headquarters at Watergate.
23:54Eso fue un banquete que les dio para decir que era Ameritas,
23:59una compañía que teníamos nosotros,
24:02un amigo nuestro, en Miami.
24:08En una comida allí en el restaurante del Watergate.
24:13Pero lo hicimos para entrar en el Watergate
24:16y buscar los documentos,
24:17porque se decían que el Partido de Morda
24:21estaba ayudando a Castro y a los gobernantes.
24:26¡Sepan que se van a enfrentar con hombres!
24:32Pero en esa noche particular,
24:34los trabajadores de DNC trabajaron tarde,
24:36evitando cualquier oportunidad
24:37de romper en su oficio.
24:48A few weeks later, though,
24:50after another failed attempt,
24:52they got their chance.
24:53La operación fue tardía.
24:57Y yo fui después, llegué tarde.
25:01Figúrense, nosotros estábamos bien vestidos,
25:03todos con traje y con todas esas cosas.
25:07Eduardo llevó unos pantalones muy raros
25:10y es allí Gordon Leader lo mandó para la casa
25:13a cambiarse de ropa.
25:16Lo mandó a cambiarse de ropa
25:19y ponerse más disponible.
25:25Nosotros estábamos allí,
25:29no necesitamos poner los tapes en las puertas
25:32porque teníamos un hombre que abría las puertas
25:34sin necesidad, Virgilio González.
25:37Era un cerrajero.
25:39Pero mientras tanto, ellos ponían los tapes,
25:41salían al frente y ponían un tape en las puertas.
25:45Y los tapes, esos fueron los que nos denunciaron a nosotros.
25:49En hacer un check de seguridad,
25:51encontré que el lancho en la puerta de la basura
25:54había sido tapado.
25:56Me volví a ver y encontré que la misma puerta
25:59había sido tapado de nuevo, el lancho.
26:02En ese momento, me quedé arriba
26:04para hacer un llamado a la policía policial.
26:10Estábamos allí, teníamos un look-out
26:12en el Howard Johnson.
26:15Pero nos dejaron solos y entonces llegó la policía
26:18y nos prendió.
26:20Y no estaban ellos allí,
26:21que podían habernos resuelto el problema.
26:24Ni Gordon Leader ni Howard Johnson.
26:29Me quité el saco, lo puse en el suelo.
26:31Entonces yo dije a los muchachos,
26:34esto va para largo.
26:35Tenía la experiencia que eso iba a complicarse.
26:44Nosotros no teníamos que ir esa noche allí.
26:51On that same night, just a few blocks away,
26:54Roger Stone was house-sitting
26:55for Creep Scheduling Director Bart Porter
26:59when he heard the telephone ring.
27:04Jim McCord was on the line
27:07and he said, this is Jim McCord.
27:08Is Porter there?
27:10I said, no, sir.
27:11He's away from the weekend.
27:12Could I take a message?
27:14And he said, damn.
27:17All right.
27:18You expect to hear from him?
27:19I said, well, I really don't.
27:20But if I do, I'll be happy to relay a message.
27:23He said, no, never mind.
27:25And he hung up.
27:29About an hour later,
27:31Gordon Liddy called.
27:34I'm looking for Porter.
27:35I said, he's not here.
27:36Where is he?
27:37He said, he's on the West Coast.
27:38I'm just house-sitting.
27:40He said, do you expect to hear from him?
27:41I said, no.
27:42He said, well, if you do,
27:43tell him Liddy's looking for him.
27:45I said, yes, sir.
27:47The next morning, of course,
27:48I saw the Washington Post headlines
27:51that men had broken into the Watergate.
27:57A spokesman for the committee
27:58to re-elect the president
28:00said that this had no connection
28:02to the committee
28:03and they knew nothing about it.
28:05I immediately began to suspect
28:06because of those two calls,
28:08that was not the case.
28:10Five men were arrested early Saturday
28:12while trying to install
28:14eavesdropping equipment
28:15at the Democratic National Committee.
28:17And it turns out that one of them
28:19has an office
28:26this is a very big story
28:28to break in at the Watergate.
28:30Another man that was arrested
28:32was Eugene Martinez.
28:33He's listed as a real estate agent
28:36and a soldier of fortune.
28:38When the first Washington Post stories
28:40about what happened at the Watergate
28:42landed in American living rooms,
28:43they barely registered as a blip.
28:45Snow detergent gets out every stain.
28:47Cotton, how, Sheila?
28:49Punched with never clean as cotton.
28:55It was the height of the primary season
28:57for the 72 Nixon re-election campaign.
29:01So most of the bureau
29:02was assigned to different candidates out there.
29:05So the bureau was pretty empty.
29:07They had very little choice
29:09but to send me.
29:11I'm Leslie Stahl.
29:12First story I covered for CBS
29:14was Watergate.
29:16I was just sent to cover
29:18the arraignment of the burglars.
29:21There was only one other reporter
29:23in the whole courtroom.
29:25And it just so happened
29:27that it was Bob Woodward
29:28who was the other reporter
29:30covering for the Metro page
29:32of the Washington Post,
29:33not even for their main section.
29:36That's how insignificant
29:37all the news outlets thought it was.
29:41Hello, sir.
29:42How come you're all here today?
29:44The deposition's being taken.
29:46How come all these people
29:47are here to take the deposition?
29:50But with each tick,
29:52it got a little more
29:53and a little more suspicious.
29:55Bob particularly
29:57had the feeling almost immediately.
30:00We knew we were on to quite a story
30:02that very first day.
30:05My name is Barry Sussman.
30:07I was the editor in charge
30:08of Watergate coverage
30:09for the Washington Post.
30:11Our police reporter
30:13was told in advance
30:14that he might be allowed
30:15to look at some of the belongings
30:18of the arrested men.
30:21And he sought address books.
30:23One of them had in it
30:24the name Howard Hunt,
30:26W.H.
30:28They also found a check
30:30for $6.36
30:33that Howard Hunt
30:34had left behind
30:35in one of their hotel rooms.
30:40Woodward called the White House,
30:41asked to speak to Howard Hunt.
30:47Hunt answered the phone,
30:48and Woodward said,
30:50do you mind telling me
30:51why was your name
30:53in the address
30:54of these men
30:55who were arrested
30:56at the Watergate?
30:58And Hunt said something like,
31:01oh, as shit,
31:03saying,
31:03this matter is under adjudication
31:05and I can't speak to you.
31:08The break-in was Saturday.
31:10This is now Monday afternoon,
31:13and we had the links
31:14to the White House,
31:15the links to the re-election committee
31:17down cold.
31:19This set the stage
31:20for the most consequential
31:21cat-and-mouse game
31:22probably ever played
31:23in American politics.
31:25On one side
31:26were the journalists
31:26tasked with uncovering
31:28what really happened,
31:29and on the other
31:30was the White House
31:31where the staff
31:32was doing all they could
31:33to make sure they failed.
31:35It was really just
31:35the company line.
31:36We don't know anything
31:37about this.
31:38We're not involved in this.
31:40Go back to your surrogate scheduling
31:41and don't worry about it.
31:43But neither the president,
31:44obviously,
31:45or anybody in the White House
31:46or anybody in authority
31:47and any of the committees
31:48working for the re-election
31:49of the president
31:50have any responsibility for it,
31:53and therefore,
31:53there's no reason
31:54why it should be
31:55a matter of concern
31:57to the American public.
31:58The White House today
31:59simply refused to comment.
32:01Presidential Press Secretary
32:02Ronald Ziegler
32:02refused comment
32:04a total of 23 times.
32:06The president's press secretary
32:07said of this incident,
32:09I'm not going to comment
32:10from the White House
32:11on a third-rate burglary attempt.
32:13When Ron Ziegler said
32:15it was just
32:16a third-rate burglary,
32:17it became one of those
32:19great Watergate phrases.
32:20A third-rate burglary.
32:22That's all it was.
32:24I'm Connie Chung.
32:25I covered Watergate
32:26for CBS News.
32:28It's sort of like
32:29no collusion.
32:30It kept getting repeated
32:32and repeated
32:33and repeated,
32:33and that was
32:34the White House line.
32:36Presidential Press Secretary
32:37Ronald Ziegler
32:38called the bugging
32:39a third-rate burglary attempt.
32:41I think the American public
32:42has a better perspective
32:43on the relative insignificance
32:46of the Watergate matter.
32:47The Post said
32:48the Republicans
32:48had a secret fund
32:50to pay for political
32:50spying and sabotage.
32:52The White House denied it.
32:53The Post has maliciously
32:54sought to give the appearance
32:56of a direct connection
32:57between the White House
32:58and the Watergate.
32:59The administration
33:00fought it,
33:01tried to come down
33:02hard on the Washington Post,
33:04make it seem like
33:05we were an instrument
33:06of the Democratic campaign.
33:08I don't respect
33:09the type of journalism,
33:11the shabby journalism
33:13that is being practiced
33:14by the Washington Post.
33:16Spokesman for the committee
33:17to re-elect the president
33:18called the Washington Post
33:19story fiction
33:20and absurdities.
33:22These stories
33:22have been based on
33:23hearsay
33:24and unidentifiable
33:25people who say
33:27they heard someone say
33:28or say that someone
33:29said something
33:30that's just gone too far.
33:33It was a deft media strategy
33:34that paid off,
33:36especially since
33:37if you were wondering
33:38just how far up
33:39the chain Watergate went.
33:40The man at the top
33:42was doing all he could
33:43to keep his distance.
33:44The reporters
33:45couldn't get to Nixon,
33:47but one day
33:48I walked into
33:49the West Gate
33:51and all of a sudden
33:52I see Nixon
33:53standing there.
33:56And he's been
33:57in the bunker.
33:57You have not been able
33:59to either see
34:00or hear from him
34:01at all.
34:02And here he was
34:02standing in his normal,
34:04you know,
34:05sort of position.
34:06and Secret Service
34:08around.
34:08They swarmed around me,
34:09but I kept walking
34:11directly up to him
34:12and they didn't
34:13rustle me down
34:13or anything.
34:14So I began to talk
34:16to him
34:16and I began asking
34:17him questions.
34:19I was afraid
34:21to take out
34:21my notebook
34:22because I was afraid
34:23he wouldn't talk
34:24to me if I wrote
34:25things down.
34:26So I was trying
34:27to remember
34:27what he was saying.
34:29Well, he didn't
34:30really say very much.
34:31I was asking him
34:32all kinds of
34:33Watergate questions
34:34and he would
34:35dance around.
34:36And finally,
34:37he said to me,
34:38how much money
34:40do you make?
34:42And I said,
34:44what?
34:44And he said,
34:46how much money
34:47do you make?
34:48Well,
34:49I make $27,000
34:51a year,
34:51but if I do
34:52a Cronkite news report,
34:55I get an extra
34:56$35.
34:56So if I turn
34:57the radio spots out,
34:59I can get my salary
35:00up to maybe
35:01$29,000 a year,
35:02almost $30,000
35:04a year.
35:05And he listened
35:06to this ridiculous
35:07rendition of
35:08how much I made
35:09and he said,
35:11you know what?
35:12You have to make
35:13more money.
35:18And then he
35:19walked away.
35:21With an election
35:22coming up,
35:23Nixon was working
35:24hard to beat back
35:25the story of
35:25Watergate.
35:26And it was working.
35:28I think Nixon
35:29has done a good
35:30job with us so far.
35:31What about the
35:32Watergate incident?
35:34I don't know
35:34what that means.
35:36What was frustrating
35:37mainly was that
35:39the public interest
35:40in this
35:41wasn't heightened.
35:43What were those
35:44men after
35:44at the Watergate?
35:45Who sent them?
35:46How were they paid?
35:48And I guess
35:49we were more curious
35:51than frustrated.
35:52Why aren't
35:53the American people
35:55as upset
35:57and affected
35:58by this
35:58as we are?
36:01We do live
36:02in a little
36:02fishbowl
36:03in Washington
36:04and
36:05what was going
36:06on right
36:07outside the
36:08environs
36:09frustrated us
36:11or what
36:12wasn't going
36:12on.
36:16One
36:17evening
36:18there was
36:19a knock
36:19on my door
36:21and it was
36:22Carl Bernstein.
36:23He literally
36:24put his foot
36:24in the door
36:25so I couldn't
36:26close it
36:26and he said
36:27I want to ask
36:28you about
36:28the committee
36:29to re-elect
36:29the president
36:30and I said
36:32I have nothing
36:32to say.
36:33I then realized
36:34that Watergate
36:35was not over
36:36and that they
36:38were going
36:38to continue
36:38to dig.
36:42Carl Bernstein
36:43called
36:44John Mitchell
36:45to question
36:46Mitchell's
36:46involvement
36:48and he apparently
36:49woke Mitchell up.
36:50Mitchell said
36:51what time is it?
36:53And Bernstein
36:54said it's
36:5511 o'clock.
36:57Bernstein
36:58told him
36:58then why
36:58he was
36:59calling
36:59and Mitchell
37:01said you
37:01guys are
37:02doing some
37:02story on us
37:03huh?
37:03Well we're
37:04going to do
37:05one story
37:05on you
37:05when all
37:06this is
37:06over.
37:07He said
37:08Katie Graham
37:09is going
37:10to get her
37:10tit caught
37:11in a ringer.
37:18Hello.
37:18Mr. Ziegler
37:19sir.
37:20Hi.
37:20Hi Ron.
37:21Yes Mr. President.
37:23I want it
37:23clearly understood.
37:25that from
37:25now on
37:26ever
37:27no reporter
37:29from the
37:29Washington Post
37:30is ever to be
37:31in the White
37:31House.
37:32Is that clear?
37:32Absolutely.
37:33Unless it's a press conference.
37:34Yes sir.
37:35Never in the White
37:36House.
37:37No church service
37:38and no photographer
37:39either.
37:40No photographer.
37:41Is that clear?
37:42Yes sir.
37:42None.
37:43That is a total
37:44order
37:44and if necessary
37:47I'll fire you.
37:48Do you understand?
37:48I do understand.
37:50Okay.
37:50All right.
37:51Good.
37:55It was around
37:56that time
37:57that I remember
37:59looking back
37:59and saying
38:00uh oh
38:02we're way out
38:03on a limb
38:03aren't we
38:04and we'll never
38:05get back
38:06and from that
38:07period on
38:08I began to think
38:09of the story
38:10as not a story
38:11about a break-in
38:13about campaign
38:14contributions
38:15but about
38:16Nixon.
38:21We're way out
38:22on a limb
38:22is a great way
38:23to understand
38:24the stakes
38:24because at that time
38:26the idea
38:27that the president
38:27could be involved
38:28in a criminal
38:29conspiracy
38:29was just
38:31unimaginable.
38:31in two centuries
38:32only 36 tenants
38:34have occupied
38:35the White House
38:35on temporary lease
38:37from that most
38:38demanding
38:38and generous
38:39of landlords
38:40the people
38:41of the United States.
38:42The man who
38:43occupies this
38:44historic office
38:45must fulfill
38:45many roles
38:46statesman
38:47strategist
38:48ceremonial leader
38:49guardian of the
38:50nation's spirit
38:51and honor.
38:52This compulsion
38:53to believe
38:53that we're
38:54led by honorable
38:55men
38:55that our nation
38:55is honorable
38:57very much
38:58drove
38:59an almost
39:00willful
39:00inability
39:02for Americans
39:03to accept
39:04that this
39:04might have had
39:05anything to do
39:06with Richard Nixon.
39:10Now
39:10that might sound
39:11like a lofty
39:12interpretation
39:12of Nixon
39:13but that's
39:14because we
39:15think of him
39:15through the lens
39:16of Watergate
39:16and everything
39:17that it revealed.
39:18When he was
39:19first elected
39:20Americans saw him
39:21in a much
39:21different light.
39:23The night is long
39:24and it is still
39:25dark
39:26as far as
39:27civilization goes
39:29but we will
39:30never be
39:30perfect
39:31for man
39:32is not perfect
39:34but we are
39:35on the way.
39:36On the day
39:37Nixon was sworn
39:38into office
39:38in January
39:39of 1969
39:41a rabbi
39:42named Edgar F.
39:43Magnin
39:43offered this
39:44blessing.
39:45Our Father's God
39:46to the author
39:46of liberty
39:47to thee we sing
39:49long may our
39:50land be bright
39:51with freedom's
39:52holy light
39:53protect us
39:55by thy might.
39:56I think it's
39:57a good window
39:58into the expectations
39:58that people had
39:59for Nixon
40:00as an American
40:00president.
40:01There are few
40:02faint streaks
40:03of pink
40:03in the sky
40:06we await
40:07the dawn
40:08almighty God
40:09bless our country
40:10and him
40:11who will be
40:11our leader
40:12and our guide
40:13in the coming
40:14years.
40:15Amen.
40:16By the way
40:17this rabbi
40:18who offered
40:19the stirring
40:19prayer for Nixon
40:20was actually
40:22May Brussel's
40:22father.
40:27Now if on that
40:28day Brussel
40:29shared her father's
40:30hopes for the
40:31president
40:31four years later
40:33they had been
40:33thoroughly dashed.
40:35Mr. Nixon
40:36President Nixon
40:37I call him
40:38Mr. because
40:39I do not
40:39recognize him
40:40as my president
40:42he may be yours
40:42but I call him
40:43Mr. Nixon.
40:47Despite her
40:48insistence
40:49that a conspiracy
40:49was afoot
40:50there was
40:51every indication
40:52that Richard Nixon
40:53would stand on
40:53that same podium
40:54and be sworn in
40:55for a second term.
40:57But there was
40:58someone else
40:58someone with a
41:00much bigger audience
41:00than May Brussel
41:01who was also
41:02trying to get
41:03in the way.
41:06At first
41:07it was called
41:08the Watergate
41:09Caper.
41:09Five men
41:10apparently caught
41:11in the act
41:12of burglarizing
41:13and bugging
41:14Democratic
41:14headquarters
41:15in Washington.
41:16But the episode
41:17grew steadily
41:18more sinister.
41:19No longer
41:20a caper
41:20but the
41:21Watergate
41:21affair.
41:23At first
41:23it was called
41:24the Watergate
41:25Caper.
41:26Five men
41:26apparently caught
41:28in the act
41:28of burglarizing
41:29and bugging
41:30Democratic
41:31headquarters
41:31in Washington.
41:33Cronkite
41:33was the man
41:34that everybody
41:35watched on
41:36television.
41:37My family
41:38used to sit
41:38around and
41:39watch Walter
41:40Cronkite.
41:41We were CBS
41:42News devotees.
41:43We gathered
41:44together and
41:45watched Uncle
41:46Walter every
41:47night.
41:48Good evening
41:48this is Walter
41:49Cronkite at
41:49CBS News
41:50headquarters in
41:51New York.
41:52And at the end
41:52he would say
41:53and that's the
41:53way it is.
41:54And that's the
41:55way it is.
41:56Monday September
41:5611th 1972.
41:58He was
41:59incredible.
42:00We loved
42:02Walter.
42:02America loved
42:03Walter Cronkite.
42:06As weeks and
42:07months passed
42:08and television
42:09had no coverage
42:10of Watergate,
42:12Walter Cronkite
42:13kind of got
42:13fed up.
42:14Most of what
42:14is known of
42:15the Watergate
42:16affair has
42:17emerged in
42:17puzzling bits
42:18and pieces
42:19through digging
42:20by the nation's
42:20press and
42:21television newsmen.
42:22And on a
42:23Friday night,
42:24not long before
42:25the election,
42:26Walter Cronkite
42:26spent maybe
42:2720 minutes of
42:28his half hour
42:29show reporting
42:30Watergate.
42:31Watergate was
42:31only part of,
42:33in the Washington
42:33Post words,
42:34a broad campaign
42:36of political
42:36espionage and
42:37sabotage against
42:39the Democratic
42:39Party.
42:40There were
42:41individuals with
42:4320 years experience
42:44in the CIA and
42:45several years with
42:46the FBI and we
42:47were working for
42:47the former
42:48Attorney General.
42:49So I couldn't
42:49question the
42:50legality of what
42:51was going on.
42:51I just took my
42:52orders and did
42:52what I was
42:53instructed to do.
42:54There was no
42:54news in it.
42:55It was all stuff
42:57that we had in
42:57the Washington
42:58Post.
42:59But to many of
43:00the viewers
43:00nationwide, it
43:01was news.
43:02In our next
43:02report, the money
43:04behind the
43:05Watergate affair.
43:06Cronkite announced
43:07on that Friday
43:08night that he
43:09was going to
43:09have a follow-up
43:10story on Monday.
43:12Cronkite's first
43:13report on
43:14Watergate terrified
43:15Nixon.
43:17This was a man,
43:18after all, who
43:19once said, the
43:20American people
43:21don't believe
43:21anything's real
43:22until they see
43:23it on television.
43:24Shadows, as
43:26usual.
43:26And I think he
43:27really bent that.
43:29Yeah, but it
43:30is.
43:31It's hard to see
43:32it.
43:32I see the page
43:33as well.
43:35I'm moving
43:36around.
43:38See, the
43:39shadow comes
43:40directly on the
43:40page.
43:42See what I
43:42mean?
43:43If you just
43:43knock it off
43:43the page, I
43:45can read a
43:46little bit
43:46easier.
43:47Nixon was
43:48very much like
43:49our current
43:49president in
43:50that respect.
43:51He understood
43:52the impact of
43:53television, and
43:55so does our
43:55current president.
43:59I'll just
44:00put it, I'll
44:00move it over to
44:01the side here
44:01a little.
44:01That's all
44:02right.
44:03I'll sit and
44:03read it from
44:04this way.
44:04That's right.
44:05You can get a
44:05good picture,
44:05can't you?
44:06The thing that's
44:07really striking
44:07about Richard
44:08Nixon's
44:09relationship to
44:10the medium of
44:10television is
44:12that it really
44:13created him as a
44:15national hero during
44:16the checker speech
44:17in 1952.
44:18ladies and gentlemen,
44:21which he looked the
44:22American people in
44:23the eye and
44:23convinced them that
44:24he had not
44:25committed financial
44:27improprieties.
44:28We did get
44:29something, a gift,
44:30after the election.
44:32It was a little
44:33cocker spaniel dog,
44:35and our little girl
44:36Tricia, the six-year-old,
44:37named it
44:38Checkers.
44:39And I just want to
44:40say this right now,
44:41that regardless of
44:42what they say about it,
44:43we're going to keep
44:44him.
44:44It probably undid
44:46his presidential
44:47campaign in 1960.
44:49I costed out the
44:51cost of the
44:51democratic platform.
44:52His infamous debate,
44:54in which he kind of
44:55broke out in a sweat
44:56and was kind of
44:57stammering compared to
44:58this confident,
44:59handsome, young
45:00John F. Kennedy.
45:02This was the week
45:03that changed the world.
45:05It made him a hero
45:07again when he was
45:08in China, and people
45:10saw these glorious,
45:11sumptuous images
45:12of him, you know,
45:13making peace with
45:14America's
45:15ancient enemy.
45:16The president
45:17departs for home
45:18after his historic
45:19week in China.
45:20He thought very
45:21deliberately and
45:22very consciously
45:23and very obsessively
45:24about how he came
45:25across on television.
45:30Okay.
45:33All right, all set?
45:34Everybody's testing.
45:35Mm-hmm.
45:37And so,
45:38with the prospect
45:39of another Cronkite
45:40report on Watergate,
45:41Nixon launched
45:42a behind-the-scenes
45:44counterattack
45:44that, at the time,
45:45I think only a
45:46conspiracy theorist
45:47could have conjured.
46:08The second part
46:09was ready to air.
46:11Walter Cronkite was
46:12ready to deliver it.
46:14All of a sudden,
46:15the White House
46:16apparently called
46:18William Paley,
46:19the owner of CBS.
46:22We got a call
46:23saying,
46:24we need to cut it
46:25down for time.
46:27It was very
46:28suspicious.
46:31Why did Paley
46:32stop him?
46:34I don't know
46:34why Paley
46:35stopped him.
46:35I think if Paley
46:37were alive today
46:37and somebody asked him,
46:38why did you stop him,
46:39he would most likely
46:41say I made a mistake?
46:45And that was it.
46:46That was the extent
46:47of the television
46:48coverage of Watergate
46:49before the election.
46:53It was so smoothly
46:54handled,
46:55no one really noticed.
46:56Not even May Brussel.
46:58Walter Cronkite
46:59did 15 minutes
47:00this week
47:01on the funding
47:01of the Watergate.
47:02And I think
47:03one or two years
47:04from now,
47:05people are going
47:05to be sorry
47:06that they didn't
47:07take those
47:08allegations seriously.
47:10And just a few
47:11weeks later,
47:12Richard Nixon
47:13was re-elected
47:14president in one
47:14of the biggest
47:15landslides in
47:16American history.
47:17I simply want to
47:18say from the
47:19bottom of my
47:20heart,
47:21thanks for making
47:23our last campaign
47:25the very best
47:26one of all.
47:29When Nixon
47:30was re-elected
47:31after all this,
47:33it was hard
47:34to believe.
47:35Yeah,
47:35it was frustrating
47:37to those people
47:38who saw
47:40that he was
47:40involved
47:41with a lot
47:42of this.
47:43How about that?
47:44The election's
47:45over and
47:45we made it.
47:47We've survived
47:47a couple of days,
47:48almost a week.
47:49For May,
47:50she never felt
47:51like she was
47:52finished.
47:53It wasn't over.
47:54She still needed
47:55to do more.
47:56It was almost
47:57business as usual
47:58the day after
47:59at the White House,
48:00but not quite.
48:02News Secretary
48:02Ron Ziegler
48:03described the mood
48:04here as one
48:05of satisfaction.
48:05For anyone
48:07who believed
48:07that Nixon
48:08had something
48:08to do with
48:09Watergate,
48:10his re-election
48:11made the burden
48:12of proof
48:12that much heavier.
48:14And as 1972
48:15turned to 1973,
48:18most people
48:18just seemed
48:19to move on.
48:21Rousing America
48:22from its national
48:23indifference
48:23to Watergate
48:24was going to
48:24require a serious
48:25jolt.
48:29seven men
48:30went on trial
48:30today
48:31in a Washington
48:31federal court
48:32charged with
48:33the break-in
48:33and burglary
48:34of Democratic
48:35National Headquarters
48:36in the Watergate
48:37building last June.
48:39Two are former
48:40White House aides.
48:41The other five
48:42were caught
48:42in a burglary.
48:43In January
48:44of 1973,
48:46the grand jury
48:47trial for the
48:47Watergate burglary
48:48began.
48:49The five men
48:50caught breaking in,
48:52plus the two men
48:53who orchestrated it,
48:54Gordon Liddy
48:54and Howard Hunt
48:55were all charged
48:56with burglary
48:57and conspiracy.
48:58But seeing as no one
49:00higher up
49:00was brought to trial,
49:02interest in the story
49:03continued to lag.
49:06If you watch
49:07the Watergate trial,
49:08they call
49:0960 witnesses here,
49:10but they're calling
49:1160 people
49:12that had nothing
49:13to do with the case.
49:14They're not calling
49:14Martha Mitchell,
49:15they're not calling
49:16John Mitchell.
49:17In these early
49:18court hearings,
49:19each time a new
49:20bit of information
49:21would come out,
49:22I would run
49:24to a payphone.
49:25This is the way
49:25we did our reporting
49:27in those days.
49:28I would run
49:29to a payphone
49:30and put a dime in
49:35and do my radio report
49:37on the phone.
49:38And by the time
49:39I got to the payphone
49:40on the third floor
49:41of the courthouse,
49:43I was out of breath.
49:44So all my reports
49:46sounded as if it was
49:48a five-alarm fire,
49:50like that.
49:53And I learned
49:55that not one
49:56of those reports
49:57was ever put
49:58on radio.
49:59They would take
50:00them in
50:00and not use them.
50:03After 16 days
50:05and more than
50:06100 pieces of evidence,
50:07the seven men
50:08charged were convicted
50:09of conspiracy,
50:11burglary,
50:11and wiretapping
50:12the Democratic Party's
50:13Watergate headquarters.
50:14I think when
50:15the record
50:16in this case
50:17becomes known,
50:19anybody who
50:20has a fair mind
50:21about it
50:21and is looking
50:22at it objectively
50:24would be able
50:25to conclude
50:25that this has been
50:27the most comprehensive,
50:29deep,
50:30thorough investigation
50:31that the FBI
50:32has ever made.
50:34And were it not
50:35for Judge John Sirica,
50:36that story
50:37might have stuck.
50:39Judge John Sirica
50:40indicated he was
50:41going to be tough
50:42to avoid any accusations
50:44of whitewash.
50:45When Hunt's lawyers
50:46objected,
50:47he said,
50:47I don't want to hear you.
50:48You can argue
50:49till doomsday.
50:50He set a sentencing date
50:51for March 23rd.
50:52And given his demeanor
50:54throughout the trial,
50:55it seemed to be
50:56a safe bet
50:56that he was going
50:57to throw the book
50:58at them.
50:59He was known
51:00as a hard-nosed judge
51:01who liked to take
51:03the big ones
51:03on his own.
51:05In the court,
51:07the criminal
51:08Sirica
51:08was terrible.
51:10He said
51:10that he was
51:11still wanting
51:12to have a juicio
51:13like that.
51:15He was basically
51:16chastising
51:17the prosecutor
51:18for not asking
51:20more pointed questions
51:21and continuing
51:23to ask these burglars.
51:24I remember this,
51:25who were the higher-ups?
51:27You weren't
51:28the top of this
51:28pyramid.
51:30Who were the higher-ups?
51:31And it was
51:32as if Sirica knew
51:33it went into
51:34the White House.
51:37And he was insistent,
51:38and I thought,
51:39this is inappropriate.
51:40A judge shouldn't
51:41be doing that.
51:43I was kind of
51:44appalled at it,
51:45but it did the trick.
51:47Up until the trial,
51:49Howard Hunt
51:50had been willing
51:50to keep quiet
51:51for Nixon.
51:52But facing
51:53what could be
51:54extended jail time,
51:55the cost of his silence
51:57skyrocketed.
51:59Hunt sent a threat
52:00to me directly
52:01through one of
52:02the re-election
52:03committee lawyers.
52:05He said,
52:05you just tell
52:06Dean this.
52:07If he isn't
52:08paid $120,000,
52:11like yesterday,
52:13he's going to have
52:14seamy things
52:15to say
52:16about what he did
52:17for John Ehrlichman.
52:20We don't know
52:21exactly what happened,
52:22but Hunt
52:23did not break.
52:25Believer in the law,
52:27I understood then
52:29and understand now
52:30the consequences
52:31of breaking it.
52:48Another one
52:49of the men on trial,
52:50James McCord,
52:51who had been in charge
52:52of the bugging portion
52:53of the job,
52:54likely received
52:55a similar offer.
52:56He had been
52:57sort of an electronics
52:58janitor
52:59at the CIA
53:01where he was
53:02responsible that
53:03nobody was bugging
53:04the Langley headquarters.
53:07When he retired,
53:09he was going to
53:10set up a private
53:11consulting and
53:12security firm.
53:15Those plans
53:16were in jeopardy
53:17now that he'd been
53:18found guilty
53:18of a federal crime.
53:19Although he was
53:20hoping for the best,
53:22he as well as I
53:23was not shocked
53:25at the verdict.
53:26And with a full
53:27two months
53:27before the sentencing
53:28date,
53:29McCord had ample
53:30time to remember
53:31how he got there
53:32in the first place.
53:33All he knew
53:33was what Liddy
53:34told him
53:36and a lot
53:37of it was false.
53:38Liddy needed
53:39a wire man
53:40as he called it,
53:42somebody who knew
53:43how to conduct
53:43electronic surveillance
53:45and it appears
53:47he got McCord
53:47to do it
53:48by in essence
53:49lying to him
53:50about,
53:51you know,
53:51what the authority
53:52was and paying him,
53:54paying him
53:55a lot of money.
53:57McCord needed
53:58the extra money
53:59because he had
54:00a handicapped
54:02child
54:03and
54:05so I think
54:06that's how
54:06McCord
54:06got sucked
54:07into it.
54:18everything came
54:19to a head
54:20on the day
54:20of sentencing,
54:22March 23rd,
54:231973.
54:24Judge Sirica
54:25was ill that day.
54:27The court
54:27started late.
54:28The judge
54:29was going
54:29into his offices
54:31to take
54:31Pepto-Bismol
54:32or something.
54:33His stomach
54:33was really bothering him
54:35and he said
54:36I'm going
54:36to have something
54:37for you
54:37in 10 minutes.
54:39So we had
54:40no idea
54:41what it was.
54:45What would happen
54:46transformed Watergate
54:48from something
54:48history probably
54:49would have remembered
54:50as a third-rate
54:50burglary
54:51and turned it
54:52into the rich
54:53political epic
54:54that we now
54:54know it to be.
54:56Good morning,
54:57Mr. McCoy.
55:01Judge Sirica
55:02revealed
55:03that one
55:04of the defendants,
55:05James McCord,
55:07had written
55:07him a letter.
55:09Judge John Sirica
55:10opened by saying
55:11he had received
55:12the letter
55:12from McCord.
55:13McCord wrote
55:14that several
55:15members of his
55:15family expressed
55:16fear for his
55:17life for disclosing
55:18what he knows.
55:19Then came
55:19the bombshells.
55:20There was
55:21political pressure
55:22on the defendants
55:23to plead guilty
55:23and to remain
55:24silent,
55:25wrote McCord.
55:26Perjury occurred
55:27during the trial.
55:28Others involved
55:29in the Watergate
55:30operation were not
55:31identified during
55:32the trial.
55:33When he read
55:34James McCord's
55:35letter,
55:35it was,
55:36it broke
55:37a big dam.
55:38There was a
55:39sensational development
55:40in the Watergate
55:41trial today.
55:42One of the key
55:43defendants says
55:44there was
55:44political pressure
55:45and perjury
55:46involved in the
55:47trial.
55:48Reporters were
55:49stunned.
55:49Nobody knew
55:49this was coming
55:50and they ran
55:51out of the
55:52courtroom to
55:52make phone calls.
55:53This was
55:54supposed to be
55:54the finale
55:55for the seven
55:56Watergate
55:56defendants
55:57the day of
55:57sentencing.
55:58But instead,
55:59the case broke
56:00wide open again.
56:01Mr. McCord,
56:02you did say
56:03in your letter
56:03that your family
56:04had been afraid
56:05for your life
56:06and that you
56:07too had feared
56:07retaliation.
56:08What did you
56:09mean by that?
56:10Sorry,
56:10I have no further
56:11comments.
56:11The man who
56:12had a special
56:13Senate investigation,
56:14North Carolina's
56:15Sam Irvin,
56:16said he hopes
56:16the White House
56:17will now be
56:18more cooperative
56:18in bringing out
56:19all the facts.
56:20The McCord
56:21letter was the
56:22tipping point
56:22of the Watergate
56:23saga.
56:24But apart from
56:25lighting the fuse
56:25that would
56:26eventually burn
56:27down Nixon's
56:27administration,
56:29it did something
56:30else pretty
56:30extraordinary.
56:31At least for
56:32one day,
56:33it aligned the
56:34May Brussels
56:34of the world
56:35with the
56:36Woodwards and
56:36Bernsteins.
56:37It was a very
56:38important day
56:39for the Watergate
56:40group because
56:40now we're in
56:41a different
56:41ballgame.
56:42The McCord
56:42letter made
56:43Watergate a
56:44conspiracy,
56:45officially.
56:46This has
56:46caused shock
56:47waves in
56:48Washington and
56:48we'll have
56:49detailed coverage.
56:50And all of a
56:51sudden,
56:51everyone who
56:52disregarded the
56:53odd coincidences
56:54of the flight
56:55553 crash in
56:56Chicago,
56:56and in the
56:57end,
56:58that's all
56:58they proved
56:58to be,
56:59mere coincidences.
57:00They had to
57:01now start
57:02paying closer
57:02attention to
57:03the widening
57:04scope of
57:04this story
57:06because Watergate
57:07now had
57:07legs.
57:08We're right
57:09in the middle
57:09of a very
57:10important time
57:11in American
57:11history and
57:13I tried to
57:14turn people
57:14on to the
57:14history of
57:15their times.
57:15That's what
57:16this is all
57:16about.
57:19I have
57:20mixed feelings
57:21about May
57:21Brussels.
57:22I think she
57:23was looking
57:23for answers to
57:24better understand
57:25a world that
57:25she didn't
57:26trust.
57:27Answers that
57:27she believed
57:28would protect
57:28her children.
57:30But that
57:30effort led
57:31her and her
57:32listeners to
57:32some dark
57:33and unlikely
57:34conclusions.
57:35In this
57:36instance,
57:36though,
57:37Watergate
57:38proved her
57:38right.
57:39The
57:39government
57:40really did
57:40lie and
57:41cheat and
57:42steal.
57:43And it
57:44abandoned its
57:45people to
57:46maintain power.
57:48water.
58:13The stage was
58:15now set for the
58:15next chapter of
58:16Watergate.
58:17And, much to
58:18the horror of
58:19Richard Nixon,
58:20it would all
58:21play out on
58:22live television.
58:23The Senate
58:24Watergate hearings,
58:25just weeks away,
58:26were about to
58:27become the
58:28greatest show
58:29on earth.
58:32Programs
58:32regularly scheduled
58:33for this time
58:34will not be seen
58:35today in order
58:36that we might
58:36bring you the
58:36following NBC
58:37News special report.
58:44Good morning.
58:45This is the
58:46Senate caucus
58:46room in
58:47Washington, D.C.
58:48And it's
58:48jammed this
58:49morning, jammed
58:50with spectators,
58:51newsmen, senators,
58:52and their aides.
58:53And the scene
58:54adds to the
58:54sense of drama
58:56as the Senate
58:56opens what is
58:57likely to become
58:58the most serious
58:59investigation it
59:00has ever made.
59:01An investigation
59:01of the American
59:02political system
59:03and the
59:04presidency itself.
59:05first military
59:06to East
59:06Nevada,
59:07the
59:12Northwestern
59:13County
59:13for the
59:13American
59:13and the
59:13Australian
59:13North
59:17Northwestern
59:17Beach
59:17helenaulous
59:17near
59:17water抱離
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