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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.
14:06open up.
14:08the children of the underground who were fighting against the Castro regime
14:13to the United States while their parents were fighting.
14:17Over 14,000 minors came that way.
14:21I was one of them.
14:24My name is Maria de los Ángeles Torres.
14:26I'm a political scientist, and I study and write about Cuban exiles.
14:30Cuba was a country that aspired to 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, and, you know, we went and greeted the rebels,
14:52and finally we're going to get a government that responds to the people.
15:01Fidel had promised elections, and he decided not to hold them.
15:07All of a sudden, everything that you were doing was subject to somebody listening and somebody
15:14reporting on you.
15:16So when Fidel starts using firing squads and killing some 17-, 18-, 19-year-olds who had just
15:26been supporters of him, but now we're demanding that he bring democracy in elections, that's where I think a lot
15:35of people turned.
15:43Turned and fled to America, where many landed in Miami.
15:49These newly arrived exiles left their homeland because they had been living in fear, because in some cases, they'd seen
15:56loved ones killed in the streets, all because of a communist dictator.
16:00So in the early 1960s, all of a sudden, there was a growing army of very motivated men looking to
16:06do all they could to fight communism, this time on American soil.
16:11It created a geopolitical match made in heaven, or so it seemed at the time.
16:19On April 17th, 1961, a newly formed military group of Cuban exiles, trained and funded by the CIA, invaded Cuba
16:28and tried to overthrow Fidel Castro.
16:31Here on the beaches around the Bay of Pigs, the invasion floundered.
16:35Those able to move beyond the beaches were trapped in swamp for high growth, which was burned up.
16:40Communication disappeared with the sinking of a liberty ship, which carried all the signal equipment and much ammunition.
16:46The Bay of Pigs invasion failed miserably, and most of the hundreds of Cubans who fought were either killed or
16:53taken prisoner.
16:53It is not the first time that communist tanks have rolled over gallant men and women, fighting to redeem the
17:01independence of their homeland.
17:04Right after the failure of Bay of Pigs, there are people who continue to have an aspiration of overthrowing the
17:12government.
17:13And indeed, the Kennedy administration continues with its plans to overthrow the government.
17:19This time, it's more covert. It is entitled Operation Mongoose.
17:25From its headquarters in Miami, Operation Mongoose launched hundreds of covert CIA operations deploying Cuban exiles.
17:34Like this man.
17:36Oye, me, tú. Toda la entrevista.
17:38Quem es responsable, que sean buenos malas, es el entrevistador.
17:42Bay 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, and they want to help us to fight castles.
18:07They were killing people, and we were against those who were killing our people.
18:14We were taking weapons to our people in Cuba, and we were establishing connections, you know, so we could contact
18:24the people inside.
18:27That was a very dangerous work.
18:37One of the jobs that I did was to sunk a pity vote that was given to Castro as a
18:48present.
18:50This went on all throughout the 1960s.
18:53Hundreds of little jobs like this, denting communist Cuba whenever possible, with the backdrop of the Cold War providing just
18:59cause.
19:09One of the grim realities of American foreign policy was a communist state 90 miles off the coast of Florida.
19:15The rhetorics of anti-communism were alive and well in the United States, and maybe felt a little bit more
19:22personally in the Cuban exile community.
19:26These are soldiers, freedom fighters, who take very seriously their tasks of combating communism.
19:34I think there's a certain vulnerability that allows for the CIA and people like Howard Hunt to then prey on
19:43their sentiments.
19:46It was Hunt who employed a handful of Cubans, Martinez among them, to provide extra security for J. Edgar Hoover's
19:53memorial 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, but no one did.
20:26By June of 1972, the Cubans had built a reputation for pulling off a unique brand of not exactly official
20:33political work.
20:33If you were invited by the President of the United States for a job, it's very difficult to not accept
20:40it.
20:41I mean, for me it was an honor and a pleasure.
20:45We were trying to be a good citizen,
20:50by 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, but they were the good guys, fighting the good fight.
21:11But I think if there's one guy in this whole story who 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 who 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, Martinez knew Howard Hunt by his Bay of Pigs known to Gare.
21:44Eduardo.
21:45He did not impress me as an agent of the CIA or whatever.
21:50He was dedicated to make movies.
21:54Rolling.
21:56Action.
21:57Eduardo era un escritor.
22:00Y vivía la historia de él en esto.
22:05Yes, one of the architects of the Watergate break-in also wrote spy novels.
22:12The Violent Ones, Where 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, The Coven, published the very same year that Hunt orchestrated Watergate,
22:26you might come away with a better idea for why this whole thing happened.
22:29The plot was basically our indefatigable sort of stalwart investigator, who's clearly a doppelganger for the real Howard Hunt,
22:41discovers that a figure who very closely resembles Edward Kennedy, Senator Kennedy,
22:48was 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 that politics was a battle between the forces of good
23:15and the forces of evil, and therefore, basically, the ends justified any means.
23:45There were actually a few attempts made before June 17th
23:48to break into the DNC headquarters at Watergate.
23:54That was a banquet that gave us to say that it was Ameritas,
23:59a company that we had, a friend of mine, in Miami.
24:08There was a food there in the restaurant of Watergate.
24:13But we did it to go to Watergate and search the documents,
24:18because they said that the Demógrada Party was helping Castro and the legislators.
24:32But on that particular night, the DNC staffers worked late,
24:36preventing any opportunity to break into their office.
24:48A few weeks later, though, after another failed attempt,
24:51they got their chance.
24:54Operación fue tardía.
24:56Y yo fui después, llegué tarde.
25:01Figurante, 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 Lee lo mandó para la casa a cambiarse de ropa.
25:16Lo mandó a cambiarse de ropa y ponerse más.
25:21Available.
25:25Nosotros estábamos allí.
25:29No necesitamos poner los tapes en las puertas,
25:32porque teníamos un hombre que abría las puertas sin necesidad.
25:36Virgilio González, era un cerrajero.
25:39Pero mientras tanto ellos ponían un tape,
25:41salían al frente y ponían un tape en las puertas.
25:45Y los tapes fueron los que nos denunciaron a nosotros.
26:10Estabamos allí, teníamos un lookout,
26:12en el Howard Johnson.
26:15Pero nos dejaron solos,
26:17y entonces llegó la policía y nos prendió.
26:20Y no estaban ellos allí,
26:21que podían habernos resuelto el problema.
26:24Ni Gordon Lee, 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,
26:52just 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,
27:07this is Jim McCord,
27:08is Porter there?
27:10I said,
27:11no, sir,
27:11he's away from the weekend.
27:12Could I take a message?
27:14And he said,
27:16damn.
27:17All right,
27:17you expect to hear from him?
27:19I said,
27:19well, I really don't.
27:20But if I do,
27:21I'll be happy to relay a message.
27:23He said,
27:24no, 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,
27:35he's not here.
27:36Where is he?
27:37He said,
27:38he's on the West Coast.
27:38I'm just house-sitting.
27:40He said,
27:40do you expect to hear from him?
27:41I said,
27:42no.
27:42He said,
27:43well,
27:43if you do,
27:43tell him Liddy's looking for him.
27:45I said,
27:45yes, sir.
27:47The next morning,
27:48of course,
27:49I saw the Washington Post headlines
27:50that men had broken into the Watergate.
27:57A spokesman for the committee to re-elect the president
27:59said that this had no connection to the committee
28:03and they knew nothing about it.
28:05I immediately began to suspect,
28:07because of those two calls,
28:08that was not the case.
28:10Five men were arrested early Saturday
28:12while trying to install eavesdropping equipment
28:15at the Democratic National Committee.
28:17And it turns out that one of them
28:19has an office in the headquarters
28:21of the committee
28:22for the re-election of the president.
28:27This is a very big story to break in at the Watergate.
28:30Another man that was arrested was 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?
28:48How, Sheila?
28:49Punched with never.
28:51Clean 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 was assigned
29:03to different candidates out there.
29:05So the bureau was pretty empty.
29:07They had very little choice but to send me.
29:11I'm Leslie Stahl.
29:12First story I covered for CBS was Watergate.
29:16I was just sent to cover
29:18the arraignment of the burglars.
29:20There 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?
29:44Deposition's being taken.
29:46How come all these people
29:47are here to take 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, W.H.
30:28He also found a check
30:30for $6.36
30:33that Howard Hunt had 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
30:53and the address of these
30:55men who were arrested
30:56at the Watergate?
30:58And Hunt said something like,
31:01holish 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
31:41surrogate scheduling
31:41and don't worry about it.
31:43Neither the president,
31:44obviously,
31:45or anybody in the White House
31:46or anybody in authority
31:47in any of the committees
31:48working for the re-election
31:49of the president
31:50have any responsibility for it
31:53and therefore there's
31:53no reason why
31:54it should be a matter
31:56of 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
32:07Press Secretary
32:07said of this incident
32:08I'm not going to comment
32:10from the White House
32:11on a third-rate
32:12burglary attempt.
32:13When Ron Ziegler
32:14said it was
32:15just a third-rate
32:16burglary,
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 and repeated
32:33and that was
32:34the White House line.
32:36The presidential
32:36press secretary
32:37Ronald Ziegler
32:38called the bugging
32:39a third-rate
32:40burglary attempt.
32:41I think the American
32:42public has a better
32:43perspective on the
32:44relative 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
32:52denied it.
32:53The Post has
32:54maliciously sought
32:55to 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
33:03Washington 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,
33:12the 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 absurdity.
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
33:34strategy that 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
33:55and he's been
33:57in the bunker.
33:57You have not been able
33:59to either see
34:00or hear from him
34:00at all.
34:01And here he was
34:02standing in his normal,
34:04you know,
34:05sort of position
34:06and Secret Service around.
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 to him
34:16and I began asking him questions.
34:19I was afraid
34:21to take out my notebook
34:22because I was afraid
34:23he wouldn't talk to me
34:24if I wrote things down.
34:26So I was trying
34:27to remember
34:27what he was saying.
34:29Well, he didn't really
34:30say 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,
34:43what?
34:44And he said,
34:46how much money
34:47do you make?
34:47Well,
34:49I make $27,000 a year
34:51but if I do
34:52a Cronkite news report,
34:55I get an extra $35.
34:57So if I turn
34:57the radio spots out,
34:59I can get my salary
35:00up to maybe $29,000 a year,
35:03almost $30,000 a year.
35:05And he listened
35:06to this ridiculous
35:07rendition
35:08of how much I made
35:09and he said,
35:11you know what?
35:12You have to make
35:13more money.
35:18And then he walked away.
35:21With an election
35:22coming up,
35:23Nixon was working hard
35:24to beat back
35:25the story of Watergate.
35:26And it was working.
35:28I think Nixon
35:29has done a good job
35:30with us so far.
35:31What about the
35:32Watergate incident?
35:34I don't know
35:34what that means.
35:36What was frustrating
35:38mainly was that
35:39the public interest
35:40in this
35:41wasn't heightened.
35:42What 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 fishbowl
36:03in Washington
36:04and what was going on
36:07right outside
36:08the environs
36:09frustrated us.
36:11or what wasn't
36:12going on.
36:17One evening
36:18there was a 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.
36:27And he said
36:27I want to ask you
36:28about the committee
36:29to re-elect
36:29the president.
36:31And 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 involvement
36:48and he apparently
36:49woke Mitchell up.
36:50Mitchell said
36:51what time is it?
36:53And Bernstein
36:54said
36:54it's 11 o'clock.
36:57Bernstein told him
36:58then why he was calling
36:59and Mitchell said
37:01you guys are doing
37:02some story on us,
37:03huh?
37:03Well we're going
37:04to do one story
37:05on you
37:05when all this
37:06is over.
37:07He said
37:08Katie Graham
37:09is going to get
37:10her tit
37:11corner to ring her.
37:18Hello.
37:18Mr. Ziegler, sir.
37:20Hi.
37:20Hi, Ron.
37:21Yes, Mr. President.
37:23I want it
37:23clearly understood
37:24that from now
37:25on
37:27ever
37:27no reporter
37:29from the Washington
37:29Post
37:30is ever to be
37:31in the White House.
37:32Is that clear?
37:32Absolutely.
37:33Unless it's a press conference.
37:34Yes, sir.
37:35Never in the White House.
37:37No church service
37:38and no photographer either.
37:40No photographer.
37:41Is that clear?
37:42Yes, sir.
37:42None.
37:43Now that is a total order
37:44and if necessary
37:47I'll fire you.
37:48Do you understand?
37:48I do understand.
37:50Okay.
37:50All right.
37:51Good.
37:52Okay.
37:55It was around that 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 period
38:07on
38:08I began to think
38:09of the story
38:10as not a story
38:11about
38:12a 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.
38:32In 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 occupies
38:44this historic office
38:45must fulfill
38:45many roles
38:46statesman
38:47strategist
38:48ceremonial leader
38:49guardian of the nation's
38:51spirit and honor.
38:52This compulsion
38:53to believe
38:53that we're led
38:54by honorable men
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 might
39:05have 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 because
39:14we think 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 dark
39:26as far as
39:27civilization goes
39:29but we will never
39:30be perfect
39:31for man is not
39:32perfect
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 blessing.
39:45Our Father's God
39:46to the author
39:46of liberty
39:47to thee we sing
39:49long may our land
39:50be 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 years
40:14amen.
40:16By the way
40:17this rabbi
40:18who offered
40:19the stirring
40:19prayer for Nixon
40:21was actually
40:22May Brussels'
40:23father.
40:27Now if on that day
40:29Brussels shared
40:30her father's hopes
40:30for the president
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.
40:44Mr. Nixon
40:45Mr. Nixon
40:47Mr. Nixon
40:48Despite her
40:48insistence
40:49that a conspiracy
40:49was afoot
40:50there was every
40:51indication
40:52that Richard Nixon
40:53would stand
40:53on that same
40:54podium
40:54and be sworn
40:55in for a second
40:56term.
40:57But there was
40:58someone else
40:58someone with a
41:00much bigger
41:00audience than
41:01May Brussels
41:01who was also
41:02trying to get
41:03in the way.
41:04Mr. Nixon
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
41:28to burglarizing
41:29and bugging
41:30Democratic
41:30headquarters
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 CBS
41:50News headquarters
41:51in New York.
41:52And at the end
41:52he would say
41:53and that's
41:53the way it
41:54is.
41:54And that's
41:55the way it
41:55is.
41:56Monday,
41:56September 11th
41:571972.
41:59He was
41:59incredible.
42:00We loved
42:02Walter.
42:02America loved
42:03Walter Cronkite.
42:06As weeks
42:07and months
42:08passed and
42:09television had
42:09no coverage
42:10of Watergate
42:11Walter 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
42:24before the
42:25election
42:25Walter Cronkite
42:26spent maybe
42:2720 minutes
42:28of his half
42:29hour show
42:29reporting
42:30Watergate.
42:31Watergate
42:31was only
42:32part of
42:32in the
42:33Washington
42:33Post words
42:34a broad
42:35campaign of
42:36political
42:36espionage
42:37and sabotage
42:38against the
42:39Democratic Party.
42:40There were
42:41individuals with
42:4220 years
42:43experience in
42:44the CIA and
42:45several years
42:46with the FBI
42:46and we were
42:47working for the
42:48former attorney
42:48general.
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
42:53do.
42:54There was no
42:54news in it.
42:55It was all
42:56stuff that we
42:57had in the
42:57Washington Post.
42:58But to many
42:59of the viewers
43:00nationwide it
43:01was news.
43:02In our next
43:02report, the
43:03money behind
43:04the Watergate
43:05affair.
43:06Cronkite announced
43:07on that Friday
43:08night that he was
43:09going to have a
43:09follow-up story on
43:10Monday.
43:12Cronkite's first
43:13report on Watergate
43:14terrified Nixon.
43:17This was a man,
43:18after all, who
43:19once said,
43:20the American
43:20people don't
43:21believe anything's
43:22real until they
43:23see it on
43:23television.
43:25Shadows, 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 shadow
43:39comes directly on
43:40the page.
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
43:48our current
43:49president in
43:50that respect.
43:52He understood
43:52the impact of
43:53television, and
43:55so does our
43:55current president.
43:59Well, I'll
44:00just put it, I'll
44:00move it over to
44:01the side here a
44:01little.
44:01That's all right.
44:03I'll sit and
44:03read it from
44:04this way.
44:04That's all 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
44:15a national hero
44:15during the
44:16Checkers speech
44:17in 1952.
44:18Ladies and
44:19gentlemen, Senator
44:20Richard Nixon.
44:21When she looked
44:22the American
44:22people in the
44:23eye and
44:23convinced them
44:24that he had
44:24not committed
44:25financial
44:27improprieties.
44:28We did get
44:29something, a
44:29gift, after
44:31the election.
44:32It was a
44:32little cocker
44:33spaniel dog, and
44:35our little girl
44:36Tricia, the
44:36six-year-old,
44:37named it
44:38Checkers.
44:39And I just
44:39want to say
44:40this right
44:40now, that
44:41regardless of
44:42what they
44:42say about
44:43it, we're
44:44going to
44:44keep it.
44:45It probably
44:45undid his
44:47presidential
44:47campaign in
44:481960.
44:50I costed
44:50out the
44:51cost of
44:51the
44:51democratic
44:52platform.
44:52His
44:53infamous
44:53debate, in
44:54which he
44:55kind of broke
44:55out in a
44:55sweat and
44:56was kind
44:56of stammering
44:57compared to
44:58this confident,
44:59handsome, young
45:00John F.
45:01Kennedy.
45:02This was the
45:03week that
45:04changed the
45:04world.
45:05It made
45:06him a hero
45:07again when
45:07he was in
45:08China, and
45:09people saw
45:10these glorious
45:11sumptuous
45:11images of
45:13him, you
45:13know, making
45:13peace with
45:14America's
45:15ancient enemy.
45:16The president
45:17departs for
45:17home after
45:18his historic
45:19week in
45:19China.
45:20He thought
45:20very deliberately
45:21and very
45:22consciously and
45:23very obsessively
45:24about how he
45:25came across
45:25on television.
45:30Okay.
45:33All right,
45:34all set?
45:35Mm-hmm.
45:37And so, with
45:38the prospect
45:39of another
45:39Cronkite report
45:40on Watergate,
45:41Nixon launched
45:42a behind-the-scenes
45:43counterattack that
45:44at the time, I
45:45think only a
45:46conspiracy theorist
45:47could have
45:47conjured.
45:49Somebody else
45:49there's hit on
45:50our side,
45:51hit on hard
45:51and well.
45:52John F.
45:53was quite
45:54silent because
45:54he thought
45:55he said
45:55they're not
45:56going to run.
45:57I do think
45:58if he worked
45:58by over
45:59having to
45:59try to talk
46:00to that
46:00asshole
46:00probably
46:02not to
46:03let these
46:03assholes
46:04that have
46:05crucified us.
46:08The second
46:09part was
46:09ready to
46:10air.
46:11Walter
46:12Cronkite
46:12was ready
46:13to deliver
46:13it.
46:14All of a
46:15sudden,
46:15the White
46:16House
46:16apparently
46:17called
46:17William Paley,
46:19the owner
46:19of CBS.
46:22We got
46:22a call
46:23saying,
46:24we need
46:25to cut
46:25it down
46:25for time.
46:27It was
46:28very
46:28suspicious.
46:31Why did
46:32Paley
46:32stop him?
46:33I don't know
46:34why Paley
46:35stopped him.
46:35I think
46:36if Paley
46:37were alive
46:37today and
46:37somebody
46:38asked him
46:38why did
46:38you stop
46:39him,
46:39he would
46:40most likely
46:41say,
46:41I made
46:42a mistake.
46:45And that
46:45was it.
46:46That was
46:46the extent
46:47of the
46:47television
46:48coverage of
46:48Watergate
46:49before the
46:50election.
46:53It was
46:53so smoothly
46:54handled,
46:55no one
46:55really noticed.
46:56Not even
46:57Mae Russell.
46:58Walter
46:58Cronkite did
46:5915 minutes
47:00this week
47:01on the
47:01funding of
47:02Watergate.
47:02And I
47:03think one
47:04or two
47:04years from
47:05now,
47:05people are
47:05going to
47:05be sorry
47:06that they
47:06didn't take
47:07those allegations
47:08seriously.
47:10And just
47:11a few weeks
47:12later,
47:12Richard Nixon
47:13was re-elected
47:14president in
47:14one of the
47:15biggest landslides
47:16in American
47:16history.
47:17I simply
47:18want to say
47:19from the
47:19bottom of
47:20my heart,
47:21thanks for
47:22making our
47:23last campaign
47:25the very
47:26best one
47:26of all.
47:29When
47:30Nixon was
47:30re-elected
47:31after all
47:32this,
47:34it was
47:34hard to
47:35believe.
47:35Yeah,
47:36it was
47:36frustrating
47:37to those
47:37people who
47:39saw that
47:40he was
47:40involved
47:41with a
47:42lot of
47:42this.
47:43How
47:43about
47:43that?
47:44The
47:44election's
47:45over and
47:45we made
47:46it.
47:47We've
47:47survived
47:47a couple
47:48of days,
47:48almost a
47:49week.
47:49For
47:50May,
47:50she never
47:51felt like
47:51she was
47:52finished.
47:53It
47:53wasn't
47:54over.
47:54She
47:55still
47:55needed
47:55to do
47:56more.
47:56It
47:57was
47:57almost
47:57business
47:58as
47:58usual
47:58the
47:59day
47:59after
47:59at
47:59the
47:59White
47:59House,
48:00but
48:00not
48:00quite.
48:02News
48:02Secretary
48:02Ron
48:03Ziegler
48:03described
48:04the mood
48:04here as
48:04one of
48:05satisfaction.
48:06For
48:07anyone who
48:07believed
48:07that
48:08Nixon
48:08had
48:08something
48:08to do
48:09with
48:09Watergate,
48:10his
48:10re-election
48:11made the
48:11burden
48:12of proof
48:12that much
48:13heavier.
48:14And as
48:151972
48:15turned to
48:161973,
48:18most people
48:18just seemed
48:19to move
48:19on.
48:21Rousing
48:22America
48:22from its
48:22national
48:23indifference
48:23to
48:23Watergate
48:24was going
48:24to require
48:25a serious
48:25jolt.
48:29Seven men
48:30went on
48:30trial today
48:31in a
48:31Washington
48:31federal court
48:32charged with
48:33the break-in
48:33and burglary
48:34of Democratic
48:35National
48:35Headquarters
48:36in the
48:36Watergate
48:37building
48:37last June.
48:38Two are
48:39former
48:40White House
48:40aides.
48:41The other
48:41five are
48:42about three.
48:43In January
48:44of 1973,
48:46the grand jury
48:47trial for the
48:47Watergate
48:48burglary
48:48began.
48:49The five
48:50men caught
48:51breaking in,
48:52plus the
48:52two men
48:53who orchestrated
48:53it,
48:54Gordon Liddy
48:54and Howard
48:55Hunt,
48:55were all
48:56charged with
48:56burglary
48:57and conspiracy.
48:58But seeing
48:59as no one
49:00higher up
49:00was brought
49:00to trial,
49:02interest in
49:02the story
49:03continued to
49:03lag.
49:06If you
49:07watch the
49:07Watergate
49:08trial,
49:08they call
49:0960 witnesses
49:10here,
49:10but they're
49:11calling 60
49:12people that
49:12had nothing
49:13to do with
49:13the case.
49:14They're not
49:14calling Martha
49:15Mitchell,
49:15they're not
49:16calling John
49:16Mitchell.
49:17In these
49:18early court
49:19hearings,
49:19each time a
49:20new bit of
49:21information would
49:22come out,
49:22I would run
49:24to a payphone.
49:25This is the
49:25way we did
49:26our reporting
49:27in those days.
49:28I would run
49:29to a payphone
49:30and put a dime
49:31in.
49:35and do my
49:36radio report
49:37on the phone.
49:38And by the
49:39time I got
49:39to the payphone
49:40on the third
49:41floor of the
49:41courthouse,
49:43I was out of
49:44breath,
49:44so all my
49:45reports sounded
49:47as if it was
49:48a five-alarm
49:49fire,
49:50like that.
49:53And I
49:54learned that
49:56not one of
49:56those reports
49:57was ever
49:58put on radio.
49:59They would
50:00take them
50:00in and not
50:02use them.
50:04After 16 days
50:05and more than
50:06100 pieces of
50:07evidence,
50:07the seven men
50:08charged were
50:09convicted of
50:09conspiracy,
50:11burglary,
50:11and wiretapping
50:12the Democratic
50:12Party's Watergate
50:13headquarters.
50:14I think when
50:15the record in
50:16this case
50:17becomes known,
50:19anybody who
50:20has a fair
50:20mind about it
50:21and is looking
50:22at it objectively
50:24would be able
50:25to conclude
50:25that this has
50:27been the most
50:27comprehensive,
50:29deep,
50:30thorough
50:30investigation
50:31that the FBI
50:32has ever made.
50:34And were it
50:35not for Judge
50:35John Sirica,
50:36that story
50:37might have
50:38stuck.
50:39Judge John
50:40Sirica indicated
50:41he was going
50:41to be tough
50:42to avoid
50:43any accusations
50:44of whitewash.
50:45When Hunt's
50:46lawyers objected,
50:47he said,
50:47I don't want
50:48to hear you.
50:48You can argue
50:49till doomsday.
50:50He set a
50:51sentencing date
50:51for March 23rd,
50:52and given his
50:53demeanor throughout
50:54the trial,
50:55it seemed to be
50:56a safe bet that
50:56he was going
50:57to throw the
50:57book at them.
50:58He was known
50:59as a hard-nosed
51:01judge who liked
51:02to take the
51:03big ones
51:03on his own.
51:10He was basically
51:16chastising the
51:18prosecutor for
51:19not asking
51:20more pointed
51:21questions and
51:22continuing to ask
51:24these burglars.
51:24I remember
51:25this.
51:25Who were the
51:26higher-ups?
51:27You weren't the
51:28top of this
51:28pyramid.
51:29Who were the
51:30higher-ups?
51:31And it was as if
51:32Sirica knew it
51:34went into the
51:34White House.
51:37And he was
51:38insistent, and I
51:39thought, this is
51:39inappropriate.
51:40A judge shouldn't
51:41be doing that.
51:43I was kind of
51:44appalled at it,
51:45but it did the
51:46trick.
51:47Up until the
51:48trial, Howard Hunt
51:50had been willing
51:50to keep quiet for
51:51Nixon.
51:52But facing what
51:53could be extended
51:54jail time, the
51:56cost of his
51:56silence skyrocketed.
51:58Hunt sent a
52:00threat to me
52:01directly through
52:02one of the
52:02re-election
52:03committee lawyers.
52:05He said, you
52:05just tell Dean
52:06this.
52:07If he isn't
52:08paid $120,000,
52:11like yesterday,
52:13he's going to
52:14have seamy things
52:15to say about
52:16what he did for
52:17John Ehrlichman.
52:20We don't know
52:21exactly what
52:22happened, but Hunt
52:23did not break.
52:25Believer in the
52:26law, I
52:27understood then
52:29and understand now
52:30the consequences
52:31of breaking it.
52:34What they
52:35presented to us
52:36was that we
52:37declared
52:38we were
52:38arrested.
52:39That then the
52:40president would
52:41free us
52:43immediately.
52:43All that was
52:44a lie.
52:48Another one of
52:49the men on
52:49trial, James
52:50McCord, who
52:51had been in
52:52charge of the
52:52bugging portion
52:53of the job,
52:54likely received a
52:55similar offer.
52:55He had been
52:57sort of an
52:57electronics janitor
52:59at the CIA
53:01where he was
53:02responsible that
53:03nobody was
53:04bugging the
53:05Langley headquarters.
53:07When he
53:08retired, he
53:09was going to
53:10set up a
53:11private consulting
53:12and security
53:13firm.
53:15Those plans
53:16were in jeopardy
53:17now that he'd
53:17been found guilty
53:18of a federal
53:19crime.
53:19Although he was
53:20hoping for the
53:21best, he as
53:23well as I was
53:23not shocked at
53:25the verdict.
53:26And with a
53:27full two months
53:27before the
53:28sentencing date,
53:29McCord had ample
53:30time to remember
53:31how he got there
53:32in the first
53:32place.
53:33All he knew
53:33was what
53:34Liddy told
53:35him, and a
53:37lot of it
53:37was false.
53:38Liddy needed
53:39a wire man,
53:41as he called
53:41it, somebody
53:42who knew how
53:43to conduct
53:44electronic
53:44surveillance,
53:45and it appears
53:47he got McCord
53:47to do it by,
53:49in essence,
53:50lying to him
53:50about, you
53:51know, what
53:51the authority
53:52was and
53:53paying him,
53:54paying him a
53:55lot of
53:55money.
53:57McCord needed
53:58the extra
53:59money because
54:00he had a
54:00handicapped
54:02child, and
54:05so I think
54:06that's how
54:06McCord got
54:07sucked into
54:07it.
54:18Everything
54:19came to a
54:20head on the
54:20day of
54:20sentencing,
54:21March 23rd,
54:231973.
54:24Judge
54:25Sirica was
54:25ill that
54:26day.
54:27Court
54:27started late.
54:28The judge
54:29was going
54:29into his
54:30offices to
54:31take Pepto-Bismol
54:32or something.
54:33His stomach
54:33was really
54:34bothering him,
54:35and he said,
54:36I'm going to
54:37have something
54:37for you in
54:3710 minutes.
54:39So we had
54:40no idea what
54:41it was.
54:45What would
54:46happen transformed
54:47Watergate from
54:48something history
54:48probably would
54:49have remembered
54:50as a third-rate
54:51burglary and
54:52turned it into
54:53the rich
54:53political epic
54:54that we now
54:54know it to
54:55be.
54:56Good morning,
54:57Mr. McCoy.
55:01Judge Sirica
55:02revealed that
55:04one of the
55:04defendants,
55:05James McCord,
55:07had written
55:07him a letter.
55:08Judge John
55:09Sirica opened
55:10by saying he
55:11had 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
55:17disclosing what
55:18he knows.
55:19Then came the
55:20bombshells.
55:20There was
55:21political pressure
55:22on the defendants
55:23to plead guilty
55:24and 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, it was,
55:36um, it broke
55:37a big dam.
55:38There was a
55:39sensational
55:40development in
55:40the Watergate
55:41trial today.
55:42One of the
55:43key defendants
55:44says there 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
55:53calls.
55:53This was
55:54supposed to
55:54be the finale
55:55for the seven
55:56Watergate
55:56defendants the
55:57day of
55:57sentencing.
55:58But instead,
55:59the case broke
56:00wide open again.
56:01Mr. McCord,
56:02you did say in
56:03your letter that
56:04your family had
56:04been afraid for
56:05your life and
56:06that you too
56:07had feared
56:07retaliation.
56:08What did you
56:09mean by that?
56:10I have no
56:11further comment.
56:11The man who
56:12had a special
56:13Senate investigation,
56:14North Carolina's
56:15Sam Irvin, said
56:16he hopes the
56:17White House will
56:17now be more
56:18cooperative in
56:19bringing out all
56:19the facts.
56:20The McCord
56:21letter was the
56:22tipping point of
56:22the Watergate
56:23saga.
56:24But apart from
56:25lighting the
56:25fuse that would
56:26eventually burn
56:27down Nixon's
56:27administration, it
56:29did something else
56:30pretty extraordinary.
56:31At least for one
56:32day, it aligned the
56:34May Brussels of the
56:35World with the
56:36Woodward's and
56:36Bernstein's.
56:37It was a very
56:38important day for
56:39the Watergate group
56:40because now we're
56:41in a different
56:41ballgame.
56:42The McCord
56:42letter made
56:43Watergate a
56:44conspiracy,
56:45officially.
56:46This has caused
56:47shockwaves in
56:48Washington and
56:48we'll have
56:49detailed coverage.
56:50And all of a
56:51sudden, everyone
56:52who disregarded
56:53the odd
56:53coincidences of
56:54the Flight 553
56:55crash in Chicago,
56:57and in the end
56:57that's all they
56:58proved to be,
56:59mere coincidences,
57:01they had to now
57:01start paying
57:02closer attention to
57:03the widening scope
57:04of this story
57:06because Watergate
57:07now had legs.
57:08We're right in
57:09the middle of a
57:09very important
57:11time in American
57:11history, and I
57:13tried to turn
57:14people on to the
57:14history of their
57:15times.
57:15That's what this
57:16is all about.
57:20I have mixed
57:20feelings about
57:21May Brussels.
57:22I think she was
57:23looking for answers
57:24to better understand
57:25a world that she
57:25didn't trust,
57:27answers that she
57:28believed would
57:28protect her
57:29children.
57:30But that effort
57:31led her and her
57:32listeners to some
57:33dark and unlikely
57:34conclusions.
57:35In this instance,
57:36though, Watergate
57:38proved her right.
57:39The government
57:40really did lie
57:41and cheat
57:41and steal.
57:43And it abandoned
57:45its people to
57:46maintain power.
57:48I want to say
57:49that it's not
57:50easy, you know?
57:53The situation
57:54was hard.
57:57I was always
57:58a blessed man.
57:59honrado.
58:00He was the same
58:01man.
58:02A me,
58:03like they've always
58:04loved me,
58:04and I've always
58:05treated me
58:07quite well.
58:08And considering.
58:13The stage was now
58:15set for the next
58:16chapter of Watergate.
58:17And, much to the
58:19horror of Richard
58:19Nixon, it would
58:21all play out on
58:22live television.
58:23The Senate Watergate
58:24hearings, just weeks
58:26away, were about to
58:27become the greatest
58:28show on earth.
58:32Programs regularly
58:33scheduled for this
58:33time will not be
58:34seen today in order
58:36that we might bring
58:36you the following
58:37NBC News special
58:38report.
58:44Good morning.
58:45This is the Senate
58:46caucus room in
58:47Washington, D.C.
58:48And it's jammed
58:49this morning, jammed
58:50with spectators,
58:51newsmen, senators,
58:52and their aides.
58:53And the scene adds
58:54to the sense of drama
58:56as the Senate opens
58:57what is likely to
58:58become the most
58:58serious investigation
58:59it has ever made.
59:01An investigation of
59:02the American political
59:03system and the
59:04presidency itself.
59:05This is the first
59:05of the East
59:06of Antioch.
59:07The end of the
59:09The end of the
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