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tv   2020  ABC  June 16, 2017 9:01pm-10:59pm EDT

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. >> on june 17, 1972 there was a break in ott watergate office complex. five men were nabed here in washington. it was the beginning of the political scandal of the sent tri. >> the president is going to address the nation and presumably announce his resignation. >> people will hear what the president has to say. >> this is the political story of the century. >> the president of the united states will begin his speech perhaps his last speem from the white house. >> he always saw
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shadows. his mo to i believe was do unto others before they have a chance to do unto you. >> that's enough. >> there was an obsession with leaks. you don't blame the leaks when facts come out that show wrong doing. >> let me see it. can we get these lights properly. >> he was not comfortable in front of a camera. one might even say he was afraid the people would see something he didn't want them to see. >> had it not been for water gate i think he could have gone down as one of the more significant presidents in this country. >> we have 40 seconds to go now. >> we were witnessing the implosion of an american presidency. the president has taken his place at the table in the white house where he's going to speak. >> here now the next picture will be
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united states. >> i have never been a quitter. to leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. as president i must put the interest of america first. therefore, i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. >> it was total tragedy. total disgrace. here was a man who had fought all of his life to become the president of the united states. he totally destroyed it. >> if someone looked in the soul of richard nixon, he knew
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absolutely that he was guilty. that was the tragedy of water gate. >> i don't come from a political family. i didn't think about the pobt of being president of the united states. my mother didn't take me into her arms an tell me someday you'll be president. >> nixon is born in a dirt poor family. he applies to ivy league colleges. >> he can't get into any of them. he make it is round all the white shoe law firms in new york. he can't get hired. >> richard nixon was a fighter. there was a fire in this man. >> the people are sick and tired of it. they're outraged and they want something done about it. they're tired about an administration which instead of cleaning up is covering up the scandal. >> he goes from navy to the house, to the senate, to vice presid
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that's true a meet or risk rise. he wanted to prove something. he felt that political success would be the way to proof he was who he thought he was. >> i say we can't afford to have the white house has a training ground for an inexperienced man. >> he is beaten by the tell yes nick kriz ma tick john kennedy. nixon looks at kennedy and he's everything he wants to be. charming, cultured. chris ma tick, confident. that resentment is what drives nixon. it drives him to try again. it drives him every time he's knocked down and defeated. it drives him to stage the greatest come back in political history. >> i richard nixon do solemnly swear i
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the office of president of the united states. >> the american people oppose the continuation of this war. >> everything was on fire in america. you had the vietnam war that had been waging. >> americans had been through a traumatic decade. three high profile assassinations. >> it was enter rup shun of a furry around the country. >> nixon was defined by the vietnam war. >> you had movies and television aimed at nixon being the villain of the era. >> how i love to be president nixon. >> nixon just always seemed completely out of touch when it came to popular culture. >> i hope they sock it to you. >> sock it to me? ♪
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>> he had the ray coniff singers at the white house. >> nixon offered a fairly simple view of the country. >> president nixon stop bombing human beings. you go to church and pray. if jesus christ were here tonight you wouldn't dare drop another bomb. >> they saw nixon as everything did he spiced. >> it's kind of like today. >> the terrorists of the far left would like to make the president of the united states a prisoner in the white house. let me set them straight. as long as i'm president, no band of violent thugs is going to keep me from going out and speaking with the american people whenever they want to hear me. >> nixon saw the
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and white. you're either pro next son or anti nixon. if you were anti nixon he was going to get you. >> never forget the press is the enemy. the press is the enemy. write that 100 times. >> all presidents have a kind of tension a conflict and i would go so far as to say even hate members of the press. what nixon had trouble doing is maintaining composure about those feelings. >> don't get the impression you arouse my anger. >> i have that impression. >> you see one can only be angry with one those he respects. >> nixon hated the press. >> "the new york times" began publishing a partial text relating to the american origins in the involvement of vietnam. >>
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leaks that to "the new york times" nixon being insistent that -- he's enraged at out of control. >> for a conspiracy ther ris like richard nixon the publishing of those papers the day after his daughter's wedding is not an accident. >> he wanted lie detector tests given he wanted the name of the guys responsible. he wanted telephone taps. >> it's in that environment that the white house creates the plummers. >> they call us the plummers because we're there to stop the leaks at the white house. >> richard
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creation of the plummers because he was convinced that the elseberg pentagon papers leaks where was the beginning. >> they sent opera tvs to look at his psychiatrist's office. >> they thought the conversations elseberg had with the psychiatrist might be a source of great stuff to destroy his public reputation. >> the way we would have met that challenge back when i was in the fbi was we would have pulled what is called a black bag job a covert operation. >> what we were engaged upon is something that had the full and hearty support of the executive branch of the united states government. >> there was an e by approve and under that he had written in his own handwriting if done under your assurance that it will not
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that was our written authority to go out and conduct that covert operation. >> these underlings they're responding to the boss' needs and desires. they have want to make him happy. so they push very hard. he doesn't ask them for the details of how they do things. doesn't care about the details. he's creating a moral climate where almost anything goes. he is ultimately responsible for the climate in which these zealots operate. >> they're using any means. we are going to use any means. get it done. i have want it done. >> people of that era taped. they taped their phone calls. nixon would have known that presidents prior to him also from that generation taped. next son continued the practice. he expanded it by making it sound activated. >> in the first couple
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taping there's a little discussion about the whole system. >> there may be a day where we have to have this. so i think it will work fine. it's a good system. >> taping was done for the purpose of having it for the historical record. it was voice activated. everything was taped which of course was probably stupid. >> there's a lack of confidence in the conduct of the war. if we start caters to these bastards they'll eat us aye loif. >> alive. you've got to keep destroying their credibility. >> second most jews are disloyal. generally speaking you can't trust the bastards. >> without the tapes richard nixon would have survived.
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♪ >> reporter: '72 was a very busy year for me. it was a year when we had the visit to china. it was a year when we had the visit to moscow. and then in december of course the most difficult decision i made of the december bombing, which did lead to the uneasy peace but it is peace with all the americans home all of our pows home. now during that period of time, frankly, i didn't just manage the campaign. i didn't run the campaign. people around me didn't bring things to me that they probably should have. because i was frankly just too busy trying to do the nation's business to run the politics. if mistakes were made however i'm not blaming the people down below.
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the heat for all of it. >> nixon had very loyal men around him. folk who were willing to walk over broken glass. he exploits that. nixon exploits that. and he gets them to do his bidding. >> nixon had a tendency to surround himself with these young, southern california ad agency types. >> the white house staff, as it evolves, i think you will find will be smaller than it's been in the past. i know you'll find it will be the youngest one in history, certainly one of the youngest. >> richard nixon managed to charm them. the charm was so strong he pulled them over the line. he encouraged them to do things that maybe they wouldn't have otherwise done. >> and they seemed to be involved in one giant contest to prove to the boss who could be tougher. who could be more ruthless. >> and critics call them the germans and describe their office as the berlin wall. i'm speaking of
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president nixon's chief white house advisors john erlichman and h.r. for harry robbins haldeman. >> haldeman and ehrlichman were, like, brothers to nixon at times. i mean they served in every possible personal and professional role for him. haldeman and erhlichman understood the importance of protecting the president. >> i knew haldeman to say hello to, although he was a much-feared figure. and i remember my father used to call him the "jolly steel buzz saw." >> you wanna understand bob haldeman? look at his haircut. >> bob haldeman was the chief of the staff to the white house. and people said, "whatever haldeman knows, the president knows." >> in february of 1972, the election year, there was one reputable poll that said that one of his opponents, was within one point of beating him in an election. and clearly mr. nixon said, "i'm gonna make certain that my enemies don't get me."
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>> democratic front runner george mcgovern. >> operation jump stone was a plan of dirty tricks and political tactics leading up to the election year of 1972. nixon would call it hard ball. it wasn't just tough politics. it was criminal behavior. >> i said if you're talking about an all out full out offensive and defensive political intelligence operation you're talking about one hell of a lot of money. >> g. gordon liddy put together a mad cap of crimes. >> each different operation was given a name of a precious gel. we quickly ran out of precious jewels. by the time we were
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were down to coal and brick. >> liddy was a cowboy, a hot shot. he could do it. >> when you hire liddy you're hiring a guy that's going to do what he's told to do. we later learned gordon liddy plotted to kill jack anderson the columnist. >> he brushed by me and said jeb just told me to take care of jack anderson. >> i said i'm i don't know my way to kill jack anderson. >> i went into mcgruder's office and said jeb did you tell him to rub out jack anderson. i said to gordon i was talking off the cuff. i wasn't serious. liddy looked at me with that stern look and said never give me an order for a hit job that you don't mean because i'll do it. >> the irony he had been an
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officer. yet he comes out of the fbi environment and he's ready to break laws at the request of the executive. gordon liddy goes to the department of justice. he's in the attorney general's office and gordon liddy present operation jump stone under which they'll break into the dnc offices in the water gate complex but they'll hire a houseboat to place outside of the fountain blue hotel in miami during the democratic convention. they'll put prostitutes on this houseboat with cameras. they'll lure democratic delegates on to the houseboat and photograph them. >> this was the man who was going to okay or not this collection of crimes. >> they asked for one million dollars and john mitchell didn't say are you guys crazy get out
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that's all illegal. that's crazy. no he said it's too expensive. please come back with a lower budget. >> there was pressure from the white house from me and the president to the exit tee to get their campaign intelligence activity going. to me it was a throw away project. give liddy the quarter million dollars and satisfy the white house. mitchell said let's go with it. i have remember at the beginning there was a sense of the master mind of all of this is gordon liddy. well, history now has established the master mind was richard nixon. >> so when we come to the water gate story it was perfectly in character even though he looked like he was set up for a pretty comfortable reelection campaign it was perfectly in character for him to say i want every advantage. i will approve this. i will approve that. he thought if he played
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so he played it a little crooked. >> i was called in by jeb stewart mcgruder to his office. he said can you get into the water gate office building? ♪ >> over the weekend five men were nabed in the democrat national headquarters in washington seemingly preparing to tap or bug the place.
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>> we continue with more of truth and lies water gate. >> there were a lot of street muggings, lot of armed robberies. >> i was a sergeant assigned to the, people on the street called us the bum squad. >> what i looked like in 1972 was like a junior charles manson. georgetown, friday night going into saturday is always crazy back then.
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>> reporter: on june 17th, 1972, there was break-in at the democratic national committee's headquarters in the watergate office complex. this was the start of what would be the political crime of the century. >> i was called in by jeb stuart magruder to his office, and he said, "can you get into the watergate office building? we want you to put in a room monitoring device i took. a dangerous gamble and risk, i recruited mr. james mccord, who was the security chief of the committee to re-elect the president. >> the plan was to get negative information about the potential nominee of the democratic party. well, how are you gonna get the negative information? a lot of people would say breaking into the democratic national committee was way out, off the charts, yes, but not that far out. >> entry night was to be friday night, june 16th.
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>> there was a man working in the back very, very late. i mean, he stayed and he stayed and he stayed. it was a friday night, i mean, this was some dedicated democrat. we thought he'd never go home. >> mccord would go into the watergate building and put in tapes in the door. >> it was taped so it would not lock. >> reporter: the hero of that night was a man named frank wills. frank wills was the security guard at the watergate office building. >> i was just on guard and i was doing my duty. >> you found the door taped once, and you took the tape off. and then you found it taped a second time. >> it was something that told me that you should check, not only check the door, but you should call the police. >> about 1:52 in the morning, the call comes up for an alleged burglary at the watergate hotel. i just kinda blink my eyes, "yeah, we'll take the call." >> and we were there in a minute, minute and a half.
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>> we approached the front door, 2600 virginia avenue. we saw the guard in there, frank wills, sitting in here at the guard post. and -- walked up to this door, here, the front door. and i -- i took out my badge to make sure he could see us, and knew who we were. and i tapped it on the glass, like this, i said, "police." >> i had an old funky golf cap, i think i had just like a t-shirt underneath trying to give me the image i wasn't a police officer. >> if a uniform car had answered that call, it coulda been a whole different ballgame. >> there's a lookout, alfred baldwin, who's supposed to warn the burglars if there's trouble. the police unit that responds to the call, they're not dressed like police officers. so baldwin doesn't even notice them until they're upstairs. >> you've got a door down there, taped. we found the eighth floor tape, we found the sixth floor tape. our adrenaline is pumped.
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door, we came into the democratic national committee. >> we get to this room here, i kick the door open. >> i pulled my revolver, the desk was all ransacked, and disheveled, and messed up. as it turns out, probably every room in the dnc was like this. and we found out later that they were always messed up. >> we were in contact by transceiver with our men inside the watergate and also with the lookout, mr. baldwin, across the street. >> he was watching a show called "attack of the puppet people." >> and he was glued to the tv set. so by the time he -- they broke in and he looked back out, he saw lights coming on in the dnc. >> the actual reception room lights up, which i can see directly across from where i'm
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come into the reception area. >> by the time alfred baldwin had notified them, it was too late. and they had to run and hide like rats. >> we're rolling down this hallway, checking the offices on both sides of the hallways, lookin' in here, torn -- turning the lights on, make sure that nobody's hiding from behind us. >> what's running through my mind is, "if there's anybody here, they're here." >> i was startled by an arm hitting next to the glass on the partition. it scared the livin' bejeezus outta me. i screamed something to the effect, "come out with your hands up, or i'm gonna blow your head off." >> and in a very soft whisper i heard a voice, "they've got us." >> ten hands went up. and they came out, and that's where the arrest occurred, right here. >> and they see these three guys that don't look anything like police officers, with pointin' guns at 'em. >> they were wired. they were hyper. they just --t
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i don't think i've ever locked up -- another burglar that was dressed in a suit and tie and was in middle age. >> it didn't compute with them what was going on and who they had, except they knew we didn't belong there. >> mccord said to me twice, he said, "are you the police?" and i thought, "why is he askin' such a silly question? of course we're the police. >> the five burglars that were arrested inside the dnc were mccord, barker, sturgis, martinez and gonzales. this was not your normal typical burglary. there was bugging devices tear gas pens. many, many rolls of film. locksmith tools, thousands of dollars in hundred dollar bills, consecutively ordered. >> who goes into the dnc looking for money, or looking for jewels or looking for something that an ordinary burglar would? no, you go in there looking for political information. and who wants that? why, you're opponent, naturally. >> coming up next. >> i'm sick of your [ bleep ] games. i need to know what you know.
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♪ >> the democratic national committee is trying to solve a spy mystery. >> five men were nabbed in the democratic national headquarters here in washington seemingly preparing to tap or bug the place. >> people weren't saying oh my god. this is clearly gonna implicate richard nixon. it just seemed bizarre. it would take some enterprising young journalists to ferret out the importance of the story. >> woodward and bernstein were assigned to this burglary just as a matter of routine. >> we've got this strange burglary. >> and i saw this commotion around the desk and was told there had been this break-in at democratic national headquarters. >> they were young reporters trying to make their way up the
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>> when you talk about the people who made a difference when it came to watergate you talk about bob woodward and carl bernstein. they were two very different people. woodward came from the navy. he was a straight-laced guy. bernstein, on the other hand, looked like a counterculture figure himself. >> i was supposedly the terrific writer. >> he was supposedly the great persistent reporter. >> their skills complimented each other. >> they sent me to the courthouse where the five burglars caught in the democratic headquarters were being arraigned. the judge asked the leader, james mccord, where did you work and mccord went, cia. >> it was stunning. >> and they discovered that mccord, was a security chief for the committe to re-elect the president. >> well, okay, folks. >> this was a political break-in. >> there was a note book belonging to one of the burglars that had the name in it, h. hunt, w. house. we figured that w. house either had to be the white house or the whore house. the question
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hunt. >> i called the white house, and eventually got hunt on the phone, and asked why was your name in the address books of two of these burglars, and he got excited and screamed out good god, slammed down the phone and left town. >> and, of course, it turned out to be howard hunt who had worked for the cia, who had been hired at the white house really to undertake dirty tricks. >> you knew that this smoke that was billowing up from the oval office, there had to be some fire there. >> it's like a dylan song, it don't take a weather man to know which way the wind blows. >> presidential pres secretary ron zieglar called it a third rate burglary attempt, and said it was nothing the president would ever be concerned with. >> richard nixon is obstructing justice from the beginning, but what will be known as the smoking gun was when he approves a plan to use the cia to blunt an fbi investigation that is into the money the
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it's clear this is done to save the skin of the white house. >> there was a source really up up. he was deep throat. >> my father was a super hero. he was a g. man. he carried a gun. he was handsome as heck. he wanted people to know the truth. >> he was in the perfect position to understand what was coming in to the investigation as well as what he could observe maybe from above the investigation. i want to talk about water gate. >> all the president's men created a sense of danger. they were constantly risking things to find out the truth. >> deep throat was
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insistent we have a communication system that no one else could understand. if you watch the movie, wood ward put the flower pot on the balcony in a certain way that was a signal to the source he wanted to meet. >> i kind of looked at him cock eyed at first. >> the other thing the movie did was create the expression follow the money and put it into american culture. >> deep throat made it clear the money was important. there was a trail to follow. carl accomplished that a $25,000 check had gone into the bank account of one of the water gate burglars. >> the $25,000 check linked contributions to president nixon's reelection campaign to the slush fund used to pay the burglars who broke into the water gate office complex. >> i said oh, my god. this now establishes an undid he niebl connection between
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committee for nixon's re-alec shn and the burglars. >> what became crucial was to get hold of a list of the employees. >> we would go to people's homes at night and knock on doors. >> i'm carl bernstein. >> he found the bookkeeper. >> in the movie all the president's men i think they reflected my feelings pretty well. >> it's for you. it's carl bernstein. >> when he first came to my door, i was pretty nervous. i didn't want him to be there. >> could i just sit down for a second. >> i don't know why i didn't throw carl out even though i was hesitant i wanted him to know. >> she knew a lot about the finances of the campaign. she knew about the secret fund. >> she was suspicious because there were all of these large amounts of money going to people. >> was it all one hundred dollars bills. >>
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>> it was supposed to be secret. >> i'm sure we counted in over 2 or $3 million. the great majority was cash. >> there were people who were authorized to distribute money from the secret fund. one of them was mitchell. >> john mitchell was the attorney general. he was a nixon loyalist. >> the highest law enforcement officer in america controlled the secret fund that controlled the activities. >> bradley said they're going to call him a crook. we took a deep breath and said -- i said mr. mitchell we have a story in tomorrow's paper i would like to read to you. >> he said go right ahead. i got as far as john mitchell while attorney general of the united states controlled a secret fund. mitchell said jesus christ all that crap you're putting that in the paper. if
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going to get her [ bleep ] caught in a big father ringer. >> it was so vulgar and threatening. >> then he said when this campaign is over we're going to do a little story on you two boys too and he hung up the phone. it's the most chilling moment i ever had being a reporter because he meant it. >> abc news has projected that richard nixon has in fact been reelected to presidency for a second term. the question now is how big will richard nixon win. >> it was a giant landslide, and there was no reaction to the stories we did. it was a way of saying, watergate? who cares?
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>> i don't know. apparently nothing. >> they've got a trial of the accused in that case, and that's gonna be tried in due course, and i think that's probably gonna be the end of the story. and all you wanted to do was surround them in comfort and protection that's why only pampers swaddlers is the #1 choice of hospitals to wrap your baby in blanket-like softness and premium protection mom: "oh hi baby" so all they feel is love wishing you love, sleep and play. pampers [boy] cannonball! [girl] don't... [man] not again! [burke] swan drive. seen it. covered it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ the moment you realize not the look you were going for. at lowe's, we have everything you need to create the outdoor space you've always wanted.
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truth and lies, water gate. >> mr. president, are you ready to take the constitutional oath? >> vietnam cost 55 million lives. we finally have achieved a peace with honor. i know it gags some of you to write that phrase but it's true. >> so in january 1973, nixon's kind of -- he's at the peak, the peak of the mountain. >> place your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand >> he has a second inauguration >> i richard nixon do solemnly swear -- >> richard nixon won reelection not just handedly but very, very bigly if i may use that word. >> we stand on the threshold of a new era of peace in the world. >> the president as we've seen on this parade route waving at the crowd and that familiar double v. >> 55 floats. >> there was a cool confidence at the committee to re-elect the president that this would blow
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>> but still i think, the storm clouds are starting to gather. >> for six months the cover up was working, and so if you were investigating the story people looked at you as if you were a bit of a conspiracy theorist. i mean, why are you bothering with that? >> but bob woodward and carl bernstein they're still pressing. they're digging deeper. they're digging harder. and so nixon still has this residual fear that somehow it might not stop. >> it caused a firestorm within the white house because they said, "oh, my god. somebody's getting close." >> i want it clearly understood, that from now on ever, no reporter from the washington post is ever to be in the white house, is that clear? >> absolutely. >> none ever to be in. now that is a total order and if necessary i'll fire you. >> i don't respect the type of journalism, the shabby journalism that is being
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practiced by "the washington post." >> this is bob woodward at the "washington post." >> the thing that's so powerful both in real life and in the movie, "all the president's men," is that people will do anything to conceal their involvement. people at the highest levels are much more involved than woodward and bernstein recognize. >> listen i'm tired of your [ bleep ] games. i don't want hints. i need to know what you know. >> it's incredible. the cover-up had very little to do with the watergate. it was mainly to protect the covert operations. get out your notebook. there's more. >> the last meeting with deep throat a lot was revealed. >> he kept saying, "the watergate burglary is not just 'one' isolated operation. this is a much bigger story than you think." >> here was an inside mole who was reporting to the newspapers and so forth, and giving them
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all the scoop. that made it appear all very credible. while they stuck the knife in and twisted it pretty good, we gave the knife to them. >> woodward and bernstein were very important, they deserve all the accolades. >> they elevate the story so that the senate and others can take notice of it at a time when the cover up was working. >> the senate tonight voted 77 to nothing to establish a select committee to investigate alleged political espionage in last year's election campaign. that includes the watergate bugging case. >> we will cooperate fully with the senate just as we did with the fbi, previously in what was called the watergate matter. >> one of the president's first questions is, "what is all this off on the horizon, no larger than a man's hand? what is this committee?" >> the committee will be headed by north carolina democrat sam ervin. >> if it wasn't for the press, congress wouldn't have done anything about it. the story would have been covered up. nobody would have ever heard about it. >> the white house strategy is to contain the damage to keep the legal responsibility held to seven people, the five burglars,
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>> the usual thing in a situation like this, in the intelligence service, is that they will have bail provided for them, they will have counsel, legal counsel provided for them. >> they promised they would pay them and take care of their families, if they just went to jail and didn't reveal the involvement of the white house. >> so they were basically ready to plead guilty and keep quiet. >> howard hunt, a former w.h. consultant, pleads guilty to all charges in the watergate bugging trial. >> mr. hunt, if you could just come up to the microphone, let me know when all cameras are rolling. mr. hunt, is there anyone higher up involved in the conspiracy? >> i would testify as follows, gentlemen, that to my personal knowledge there was not. >> and they take the rap. they essentially cop to it hoping that the buck will stop there. >> one of the problems of paying hush money, is that no price is too big. and howard hunt needed more, and needed more, and needed more. >> all of us were headed for prison, and that sometng
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to be done, should be done. and if they didn't, then dire consequences for the administration could result. that's a plain statement of fact, not a threat. john dean says, "we've become like the mafia. where does it end? we are being blackmailed by our own people." >> the cover-up was collapsing. the cover-up held, but dean realized it was about to come innovative technology. refined styling. that feeling you can only find in a lexus. go ahead, spoil yourself. the es and es hybrid. lease the 2017 es 350 for $329 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.
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>> it was the oj simpson of its era almost like a mafia story. on june 17th, 1972, there was break in at the watergate office complex. >> five men were nabbed in the democratic national headquarters here in washington. >> reporter: is there anyone higher up involved in the conspiracy? >> what did the president know and when did the president know it? >> reporter: the pressure today is building on president nixon. >> sort of lost control, a dangerous trait in a president. >> you must keep up the attack on the media. you've got to keep destroying their credibility. >> nixon was orchestrating the coverup.
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>> i want this. i want that. i'm the president. get it! >> the senate sprung into action. it started holding hearings. >> it had sex, love, hate, greed, you name it. the greatest show on the earth. >> i knew it was going to be my word against his word. >> the scandal has now moved right to the doorway of the oval office in the white house. >> the american people were outraged. >> this guy's jumping all over me about watergate! >> no one is above the law. >> people have gotta know whether or not their president is a crook. well i am not a crook. >> are you sorry you didn't burn the tapes? >> the answer is -- >> impeach nixon now! impeach nixon now! >> these are days of virtual paralysis within the top echelon of the white house staff because of nervousness, suspicion and uncertainty generated by the watergate scandal. >> no one was killed at watergate. no one profited from watergate, the way we handled it took what was basically a misdemeanor, a, and made it the crime
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>> there was an instability in the center of the nixon white house and it was nixon himself. >> when an emotionally unstable person gets power and then feels that they're invincible, they can do whatever they want to do, because they have that power, that's a dangerous course of action. >> richard nixon was looking for loyalty, blind loyalty. he was a man who didn't trust many people. >> john dean, his white house counsel he was not a loyalist but he was willing to do what richard nixon wanted. >> john was only 32. dean fascinated all of us because he had tassels on his loafer. and his hair was a little curled up a little bit. we thought that was pretty cool. he was a cool guy and a smart guy. >> after the watergate break-in, dean was put in charge by the president of the cover-up.
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>> he was a lawyer. he knew that he had engaged in criminal activity. >> nixon any further developments on watergate? >> john deal is watching it on an almost full-time basis and reporting to ehrlichman and me on a continuing basis. and no one else. >> one of the lawyers from the re-election committee came over to my office and said, "hunt has a message for you, that if he doesn't get $120,000 he's gonna have some steamy things to say about what he did for john ehrlichman. >> he let it be known that he had enough explosive information and evidence on richard nixon that he would blow the white house out of the ground. >> dean was unable to control this anymore and had to fully report to nixon for the first time on, "something's gonna give. we need a change in strategy." >> the reason i thought we ought to talk this morning is i think that there's no doubt about the seriousness of the problem
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we've got. we have a cancer within close to the presidency, that's growing. it's growing daily. it's compounding. >> john dean realized that -- that the coverup was -- was coming apart. >> hunt is now demanding another seventy two thousand dollars for his own personal expenses. another fifty thousand dollars to pay his attorney's fees, a hundred and twenty some thousand dollars. ose of business yesterday.he >> i decided i had to give him everything i could give him to get him to b -- end the cover-up, to just go in and blow it away. >> there's no denying the fact that the white house and ehrlichman, haldeman and dean are involved in some of the early money decisions. >> how much money do you need? >> he asks me, "well, how much could it cost?" and i pulled out of thin air what i thought was the number that he'd find offensive. >> i would say these people are going to cost a million dollars over the next two years. >> it doesn't bother him at all. >> you could get a million dollars. and you could get it in cash. i know where it could be gotten. >> mm hmm. >> i mean its not easy, but it could be done.
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politics. it was criminal behavior. it was the kind of behavior that a later generation would associated with the sopranos. >> that's the day i think i really first meet richard nixon. i met somebody who would do what was ever necessary to stay in power. >> with dean he's beginning to worry, 'cause he doesn't trust him anymore. he saw john dean as disloyal. >> and dean, i think, rightly suspected that he was gonna be the fall guy. >> trial proceedings open today in the celebrated watergate bugging case. >> there was a coverup and it worked until it didn't. >> judge sirica was not a dumb dumb. he saw. he read the papers. he knew something really bad was going on here. >> far more is involved here than the guilt or innocence of
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the seven defendants. if they are guilty, why did they do it and who put them up to it. the judge and jury will want to know. >> he did not believe that there weren't higher ups involved. he just had a good sniffer for corruption and for lying. >> these five burglars and the two other people involved as the masterminds came before him in court. he threatened them through their lawyers. "if they don't come clean," said john j. sirica, "i'm gonna throw the book at them. and i can give them sentences of 40 years." >> and sirica, having a very good idea that somebody might crack. and -- they did. >> james mccord, wrote a letter to the judge. in it he charged that perjury was committed during the trial. >> mccord in his letter to judge sirica he said, "this thing is getting closer to the top than you think about." >> people lied on the stand, and you need to know this. >> i think we all, in the courtroom, kind of-gasped -- higher ups were responsible. >> it acknowledged that there was a cover up.
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so it was very significant. >> today the watergate scandal became a whole new ballgame. >> mccord implicated two nixon aides in the break in. >> i had no knowledge of the watergate at all. and i don't think i ought to say anything further. >> everybody began to realize that this wasn't just a third-rate burglary, as ron ziegler, president nixon's press officer, said. >> then you start hearing about bags of cash being delivered as hush money and i think that's what really got to the american public. >> americans have been hearing about watergate since the scandal broke last june, but most have only recently begun paying attention all in the family. >> i'm up to here with watergate. i'm drowning water gate. >> archie, the whole country's drowning in watergate. >> the president has access, actually, to turn down all thermostats. his critics claim he'll do anything to get the heat off. >> the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and the louder they laugh. and that's what nixo
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it was a personal tragedy. >> things got worse and worse in the white house. can you describe now that atmosphere for us? >> it was really like being besieged because every day there were new charges and rumors. my father was being buffeted by a whole windfall of charges and countercharges. >> almost every day recently, the watergate has produced its quota of sensation. >> i was so upset that he was so upset that he was closing us all off. when he came over for dinner, it would just be to eat and leave. he didn't really want to have discussions. he wanted to keep the family at arms length from watergate. >> the first lady pat paks son you can see that water gate took a toll on her. >> the way she would handle it was assure him of her faith. she felt if my father could remain strong he could survive
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more tense by the -- by the day, by the hour, by the minute. >> there's no question about it, there was a sense that we were constantly under siege, especially from the national media. >> and people felt they were all under attack, at a certain point they were all liable to be indicted. >> i was in trouble and i knew it -- we're on air force one and i'm standing on the flight deck and it occurred to me for about 30 seconds that i could crash this airplane and that would put an end to everybody's problems, mine and nixon's and halderman's and everybody, everybody who was aboard. >> the investigation was closer to nixon, than it had ever been before, and nixon knew that some dramatic change was necessary. >> if we went in with sackcloth and ashes and fired the whole white house staff, this isn't going to satisfy these goddamn cannibals. they'd still be after us. who are they after? hell they're not after haldeman or ehrlichman or dean, they're after me. the president. they hate my guts. >> nixon thought, " if i offer up," as he said, " my right arm and my left arm at the same time, that that might be enough that the inv
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there." >> i got a call from the president from camp david. the white house operator got me on the phone and there was a long, long delay before finally the president came on in a very muffled downbeat voice, and said, "i was wondering if you could get up here at 1:30 today." >> bob halderman called me and said, "the president wants to see us." i said, "what's up?" he says, "he's decided to fire us." >> the president then he began to sob, and i put my arm around his shoulder. it was at that point i was feeling more sorry for him than i was for myself. >> today in one of the most difficult decisions of my presidency, i accepted the resignations of two of my closest associates in the white house. bob haldeman. john erlichman.
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two of the finest public servants it has been my privilege to know. the counsel to the president, john dean, has also resigned. >> "two of the finest public servants i've ever known," said nixon showing them the door hoping to save himself, of course. >> the biggest white house scandal in a century, the watergate scandal, broke wide open today. >> reporter: the white house is in a state of shock. >> was one of the most painful things he had to do in his political career. >> hi. >> hope i didn't let you down. >> no sir, you got your points over, now you got it set right and move on. >> well, it's a tough thing, bob, for you and for john and the rest. but [ bleep ] i'm never going to discuss this [ bleep ] water gate thing again. never ever ever ever.
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but let me say you're a strong man [ bleep ]. i love i don't and i love john. god bless. i love you as you know >> like my brother. >> nixon was a brilliant politician who, with an open, blue sky over your head, could predict political storms before anyone else saw them. yet in hindsight, we look at this and say, "where was this astute politician?" >> they started the hearings -- is isn't gonna be me.e.t i'm ♪ feeling tonight, some kinda wonderful ♪ ♪ feeling inside, some kinda wonderful ♪
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>> washington summer days are the most humid hot days anywhere in the entire country, i think. and the hotter the weather got, the hotter watergate got. >> abc news report about senate hearings: "a special report on the senate watergate hearings." >> this was the o.j. simpson trial of its era.
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too mild to apply to watergate." >> everybody was in a frenzy around d.c. that famous caucus room. almost every day there were lines of people waiting outside. >> can you just tell us once again what you said about calling the president? >> i was the watergate correspondent for abc news. i hear a gavel pounding, so let's go inside. there were only three television networks in those days. there was no cable networks. there was no internet, of course. >> everyday people were watching. farmers, mechanics, and you were keeping up with the story because it had everything in it. it had love, hate, greed, you name it. the greatest show on the earth. >> why didn't you throw mr. liddy out of your office? >> in hindsight, i not only should have thrown him out of the office, i should have thrown him out of the window. >> as it's developing, though, it's not immediately clear that you're in the funny farm of all times. >> my job was to raise an unbelievable amount of money. >> mr. liddy said that he would have a million dollars for his plan? >> yes, sir. >> well, since that's a rather handsome sum did it peak your curiosity?
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>> this wasn't some boring senate hearing. this was about corruption and obstruction of justice. >> it's an obscure question to me. >> no, it's a simple question. if the answer's no, say "no." if the answer's yes, say "yes." >> would you restate the question for me, please? >> richard nixon told haldeman to lie to the committee. guess what. hald man said that. >> you never knew what would be said, you never knew who would be speaking. >> how do you know that mr. chairman? >> because i can understand the the chairman was sam ervin. a southerner from north carolina. >> i'm just a country lawyer from way down in north carolina. >> he's an old country lawyer about like i'm an astronaut. >> well i don't believe there is anything in e
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presidency should be separated from truth. >> when the details came out and people saw that this was almost like some kind of mafia story. >> what was the altercation if you could be a little more specific? >> well i simply put my hand on mr. liddy's shoulder and he asked me to remove it. >> was he more specific than "serious consequences?" >> well he indicated that he would kill me. >> it's the country's favorite soap opera. it's confusing. >> that mccord was a pretty good "wire-man?" >> it's complicated. >> i would say that he's one of the best wiremen in the business. the characters are unforgettable. >> no retired man in the nypd would become involved in a thing like that. that's for sure. >> it seemed impossible, it seemed improbable. and yet it happened. >> and the next logical man to hear from would appear to be john dean. >> john dean, white house lawyer, testifies about nixon. and that changed everything about watergate. >> people were riveted by this young man they'd never heard of before. >> i sincerely wish i could say it's my pleasure to be here today, but i think you can understand why it's not.
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very conservative, well-dressed. he had a beautiful wife. >> maureen dean with her blond hair. she seemed very mysterious. i mean she was sitting behind him, and she was looking perfect everyday and she never let on at all what her emotions were. >> my wife had initially typed my handwritten notes. had they told me i was going to have to read it, i would've never done 60,000 words. "i began by telling the president that there was a cancer growing on the presidency." >> he was reading this text about the president of the united states. >> "and if the cancer was not removed the president himself would be killed by it." >> and the details were surprising. >> i subsequently met with mr. ehrlichman i remember well his instructions. he told me to shred the documents and deep-six the briefcase. >> and the picture was disturbing. >> the money was laundered so it could not be traced and then there were secret deliveries. >> a crime followed by another
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each more preposterous than the one before it. >> i then proceeded to tell him that perjury had been committed and for this cover-up to continue would require more perjury and more money. >> until that point the nixon white house had successfully stonewalled investigations of the president's role in the cover-up. john dean cut through that like a knife through butter. john dean said, "the president is involved in the cover-up." >> the central question at this point is simply put: what did the president know and when did he know it? >> and from that moment on watergate became nixon versus dean: who was telling the truth? >> i knew it was going to be my word against his word. and i knew he'd already called me a liar. so i slipped a couple pages into my testimony that i thought that i had been recorded in one or more conversations. >> john dean had mentioned tapes.
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that was the only time that listening devices, tapes, had even been mentioned to anyone. so i had every reason to believe that i would not be asked about tapes. >> when alexander butterfield acknowledged that these tapes existed, like a bombshell going off. >> there was a certain innocence about the presidency. and when he said, "no, the president is taping his most secret, most confidential conversations," it was like, "oh my god." [ bell rings ] fun in art class. come close, come close. [ moans ] when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. awww. try this. for minor arthritis pain, only aleve can stop pain for up to 12 straight hours with just one pill. thank you. [ upbeat music playing ] you can't quit, neither should your pain reliever. stay all day strong th 12 hour aleve. check this sunday's paper for extra savings on products from aleve. when frankie popped summthe alligator floaty.rning
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>> i began by telling the president that there was a cancer growing on the presidency. >> what did the president know and when did he know it? >> at that point in june of 1973 it was john w. dean, a little known former counsel to the president, versus richard nixon-- a man the country had known for 30 years, and now president of the united states. whom was the country going to believe: dean or nixon? >> the key witness in the minds of the people who were there and later on was alexander butterfield. >> the subcommittee will come to order. >> alexander butterfield was sort of the president's personal assistant who would keep the trains running on time, keep the flow of people and paper, in and out of the oval office. he saw everything.
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>> butterfield was called just to see if he had anything to say that was worthwhile. and he did. >> i was told "the president wants you to get a taping system." but the idea was it's not just gonna be a little thing in a desk draw. and he wants it on all the telephones -- office phones and in the oval office. >> when i briefed the president, it was just the president and i. >> how does that work, alex? does it work with you here? >> uh, no. i'm going to monitor this [unclear]. >> i don't want it monitored you see, what happens when a record is made, a tape? >> a tape is made. yes, sir. >> i took him through it. he was embarrassed the whole time. he didn't like me tellin' him about this stuff that he'd had put in. >> and i do believe he needed to know where the microphones were. and they were on the base of the lamps over the mantelpiece. and then i hated to tell him that they'd drilled these holes in his desk. he was embarrassed that i was telling him about this thing that he had asked -- that it be installed.
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he would like to have asked that unbeknownst to anyone. listen, this wasn't a happy day for me. i knew there was skullduggery going on in the white house. >> mr. butterfield will you stand and raise your right hand? >> my name is alexander porter butterfield. >> fred thompson who was the counsel for the republicans. >> mr butterfield i understand you previously were employed by the whitehouse. >> asked the question. >> mr. butterfield, are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the oval office of the president? >> i was aware of listening devices. yes sir. >> and at that point, like all i knew how huge that was. >> and at that point, like all the other reporters in the room, i said to myself, "the jig is up." if those tapes prove that richard nixon orchesat
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cover-up let alone whether they proved that he had ordered the break-in of the watergate, he's cooked. >> to all of the people i knew and my friends they were probably saying that son of a [ bleep ] he's hurting our man. i understood nixon. i-- i-- i honestly understood it all very well. i knew nixon so damn well. so i hated to be the guy. >> do you ever hear any of these tapes being played? >> yes, sir. i did. >> once alexander butterfield disclosed the existence of the taping system, the real challenge then, for the ervin committee, was finding a path to subpeona those tapes. >> the senate recognized it had the power to ensure that there would be a full and complete investigation. and they exercised that power.
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richardson, appointed archibald cox, a harvard professor to be the special prosecutor. >> the guidelines or charter for the special prosecutor state that he will have full authority. >> the special prosecutor was given a mandate of independence tter where it went.rgate no >> when the tapes were revealed. >> the pressure is on the president to produce those tapes. or run the grave risk that public opinion will decide he d nixon refused.. house to >> nixon was raging, okay, in the summer of 1973. he's so angry. he's angry because archibald cox is putting pressure, he wants the tapes. >> whether we get them now is an issue for the courts. >> i think the powers of the presidency had never been challenged before, the way they were when the special prosecutor subpoenaed nixon's white house tapes. >> and he just can't stand what's going on, and he wants
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to -- he wants to get rid of archibald cox-- i mean, to fire him. and his people say, "no, mr. president. don't do that; that's gonna cause more trouble. worst thing you can do is to fire the head of an investigation; it makes you look guilty. ultimately the court of appeals ruled that the tapes had to be turned over. >> the president had lost any patience. he said, "get rid of cox." my richardson i can't fire cox. >> mr richardson, can we see you for a bit? >> richardson said, "i can't fire cox. i mean, can't possibly fire him. i'm gonna resign first." so he resigns. >> there will be an announcement out of the white house. >> then the order was given to the deputy attorney general william ruckelshaus to fire cox, the special prosecutor. and ruckelshaus refused. >> raise your right hand. >> i was attorney general about twenty minutes. i found out that twenty minutes is not long enough to get your picture on the wall. >> i really had no recourse but to refuse to carry out the directive and to resign. >> to this day ruckelshaus doesn't know if he was fired first or resigned first. but in any case, he leaves the scene. >> the third person-- inhe
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solicitor general, robert bork. it's bork who finally does the deed and fires cox. >> well, by this time, the nation was up in arms. this was called "the saturday night massacre." >> we were horrified, this was not what we considered to be the role of the president or how democracy functions. >> so it looked like not only was cox gone, but the investigation was over. so many americans thought, "oh my god, this is a coup d'état. >> basically, the president has seized full control of the special prosecutor's office. >> they are impeding our operations right now. >> the white house the executive branch acted as if it was actually going to crush the entire investigation. >> our office had been seized and to us it was a clear attempt to obstruct the investigation, to interfere. >> impeach nixon now! impeach nixon now! >> and the american people were outraged. they said basically, "you know, we're not a banana republic. we have a system of laws here
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even if it's the president of the united states, no one is above the law." >> and now, the public opinion tide swung very strongly against richard nixon because that saturday known as the saturday night massacre did it. and who did it? richard nixon did it to himself. >> impeach nixon now! impeach nixon now! >> i have no intention whatever of walking from the job i was elected to do.
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>> for the next year so much that went into the water gate investigation was what's on those tapes. >> the supreme court rules president nixon must turnover material. >> when the case comes in the people are afraid to tell the president. somebody has an idea of putting a sign around the president's dog's neck and all the sign will say is 8-0. >> impeach nixon
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>> the white house said a segment of the tapes are missing. here we have a tape clearly on a day when discussions by nixon are going to be germane to the subject. for 18 1/2 minutes it's been erased. rose mary woods is the loyal secretary to the president. she is tasked with transcribing the tapes before they were turned over. her explanation was she was listening to the tape. as she was listening the telephone rang. >> she puts her foot down and a pedal wrongly. for 18 1/2 minutes keeps it here. >> you can see her holding on white knuckled. she is at a 45 degree angle to reach the phone. >> it's preposterous. why is there a reason this nixon loyalist is tanging the fall or erasing what could be a very critical part of
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president. the reason is it's harmful to the president. >> he knew the tapes would in krim fate him. he department want the american people to know what was on the tapes. >> on the investigation you know -- >> it showed from just about the get go president nixon was on or about traiting the cover up. >> they should call the fbi and say that we wish for the country -- >> now you had to reconsider everything nixon publicly about the fact he didn't have a role in the cover up. >> the so-called smoking gun tape proved from his own lips from his own words he orchestrated the cover up of water gate. >> this was the final nail in the coffin although you don't need another nail if you're already in the coffin which we were. >>
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prompted the impeachment inquiry. >> impeachment was not likely thrown around. >> impeach nixon now. >> the only institution left to provide some remedy is the congress. >> it's my own judgment this will require they recommend the impeachment of the president. it is water gate that forced the other branches of government and the american people to ask is our president too powerful. >> the house you dish air committee got to the crux of the matter today, the impeachment of the president. >> i didn't want to have to vote for the impeachment. >> for the second time the committee of the united states congress is about to hear formally evidence that may or may not lead to the impeach omt of the president of the united states. >> i knew it was my responsibility. >> i'll never forget the
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it was 7:05 in the evening when the chairman said to his clerk a record vote is demanded and the clerk will call the roll. all those in favor say eye. all those opposed no. the clerk will call the role. >> the mood in the room was very somber. it was an awesome thing and you don't do that lightly. >> mr. don hue, eye. mr. brooks? eye. >> these are democrats first down the line. >> ms. holtzman? eye. >> i don't think anyone on that committee republican or democrat took pleasure. >> then it got to the republicans. >> mr. lot? >> no. >> the president wasn't fighting it and wasn't intending to resign. i felt if he felt that
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a lot of the accusations u must not be true. >> mr. fish mr. hogan mr. butler mr. fray lick? eye. >> it carried 27-11. >> the house committee votes to impeach president nixon for obstruction of justice. >> the president faced the reality he needed to go. time for him to go. last minute gift for your dad! like men's golf apparel starting at $17.59 dress him up with a new van heusen dress shirt for just $23.99 philips norelco razors start at $23.99 or give dad a stylish new timex weekender watch. plus everyone gets kohl's cash! earn it on everything! spend it on anything! get the gifts dad really wants thursday through sunday - at kohl's. i have cervical cancer.
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hi guys. in the desert.be here.
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on the mountain. at school. at the beach. the big easy. yeah yeah today i want to show you guys e next-gen chevy equinox. what do you think? that's pretty. pretty sexy. it looks aggressive. but not overbearing. it's not too big. not too small. seems like the perfect car for anybody. i would take it anywhere. she's a bad mama jama. (laughter) current qualified gm lessees can get this introductory lease on the all-new 2018 chevy equinox for around $249 a month. find new roads at your local chevy dealer. >> reporter: what starts the clock ticking towards the resignation is the supreme court decision. >> when richard nixon loses us v. nixon, he thinks about resigning, his family pushes back. >> the tipping point was that a number of prominent republicans came to nixon and said, "we're not gonna be able to support you in the senate." >> down to the white house trudged the senior republicans on capol
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>> when barry goldwater and the leaders of the republican party in congress come to him and say "look, it's over." al haig told me that the president's last great hope was george wallace. >> the president said, george, are you still with me and the governor said, no, i'm sorry, mr. president, i'm not. and the president hung up, looked at me and said, al, i've just lost the presidency. >> president nixon asks his daughter, julie, to tell the first lady that he's resigning. he doesn't tell the first lady. >> you were the one who told her? >> i did. i said daddy felt he had to resign. a tear slid down her eye and i didn't think she said anything. she accepted it. she knew it was
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>> you had one last dinner. and you asked the white house photographer to be there. >> i just had a feeling that it was important that the event be recorded. >> he wanted a picture for history's sake. we all linked arms and stood there and smiled. >> i put on a -- somewhat of a false front, and bravado and tried to arrange it in my usual way. "you stand here, you stand here." >> it's interesting from how my mother looked at it. she hates that picture of all of us smiling. because she says there our hearts are breaking and we're smiling. >> i went down to the lincoln room heard the chanting outside. reminded me of the vietnam days, except this time the chant was "jail to the chief! jail to the chief!" >> i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. vice president ford will be sworn in as president at that hour in this office. >> today at dawn two men got up, th'l
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very different titles and very different fates. >> i woke up with a start the last day, wondering if i'd overslept, and i looked at my watch. the battery had run out, worn out, at four o'clock the last day i was in office. by that time i was worn out too. >> al haig sort of knocked on the door. he brought one piece of paper. there was one line on it. he said, "you know, we forgot to do this. would you sign it now?" "i hereby resign the office of president of the united states." >> mrs nixon and the president came down the elevator, i'll never forget she said why are you doing this? >> the president has just entered with mrs. nixon to say goodbye to the white house staff and to his cabinet. >> you are here to say goodbye to us.
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>> what we see in the east room is the agony of being richard nixon. >> i don't think i can even tell you without sobbing, so i'm not gonna try. i can't -- i just get very emotional about it. >> he said, "this isn't goodbye. the french have a word for it." >> we don't have a good word for it in english. the best is au revoir. we'll see you again. >> every part of it was incredibly touching. >> the farewell speech to the staff. it was very difficult because he was really letting down his guard for one of the few times in public.
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>> he spoke from the heart. >> tricia later, in her diary, wrote that for the first time, she was glad people were able to see daddy as he really was. >> the greatness comes not when things always go good for you -- greatness comes when you're really tested. when you take some knocks and some disappointments -- >> his voice cracking with emotion as he spoke about a man is not defeated until he gives up. you have to keep going in life, keep fighting. >> only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. >> he was saying goodbye to them. he was saying goodbye to a whole lot, to a political life. >> always give your best others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.
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>> president and mrs. nixon, vice president gerald ford, soon to be president, walking the red carpet now. >> mrs. nixon had already got aboard ahead of me. kind of raised by hand. i don't know whether it was a salute or a wave but that was it. >> when nixon boarded the helicopter, i was glad to see him go. that meant the end of this turmoil and angst that we were all dealing with. >> as the helicopter began to rise i heard ms. nixon speak to no one in particular but to everyone. she said, "it's so sad. it's so
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>> people who worked for you, people who are close to you in one way or another, they say that you are cold, remote, and that they were unable to reach you. >> why don't we get serious? >> well, because i think people are still, i am serious. people are interested in you. >> i know you're serious. >> i'm sorry you don't find these questions serious. >> people are still trying to understand you. i'm sorry you find it -- that you find these questions unserious. we have/a different idea, oh no.e go on.t serious is. i'm not objecting to the questions you know. >> were there times when you -- when you thought you might go under, emotionally? >> emotionally, never. .ost just time for a yes or eup. the tapes >> the answer is i probably should have. but mainly, i shouldn't have even installed them because johnson's system was there, i had it tak o
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en.terpretation as we have all ♪ >> although richard nixon was never indicted, the evidence on the tapes and in the documents make it clear that there was a criminal in the white house. ♪ >> nixon never acknowledged his guilt. >> nixon could have survived if he apologized. but his approach was always total denial. >> he believed, and i think to the day he died, that what he did was best for the country. ♪ >> the essence of every great leader i have known. he was a lonely man. >> do you consider that you've had a good life? >> i don't get into that kind of crap. >> richard nixon was our most complicated president capable of
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brilliant moments. he was also captive of a dark soul. >> when the president has no morals and is willing to to lie, those are dangers for society. we can't allow the president not to regard facts as essential. >> and as john adams told us facts are stubborn things. you may pretend they're not there. you may try to explain them away. but a fact is a fact. >> this crisis basically was spawned and grew out of one man, richard nixon. >> so gripped was he by hatred and anger at perceived enemies that he lost his way. and the dark side of his personality came to dominate his actions as president. >> the story of nixon is the story of perseverance, of resilience. nixon summed this up when he said, "a man is not finished when he's defeated. he's only finished when he quits. nixon was no quitter." >> maybe i
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my philosophy generally, was of a little couplet that i received from claire boothe luce. it read, "i am hurt, but i am not slain. i shall lay me down and bleed awhile. and i shall rise and fight again." that's the story of my life. ♪ watch.we are on storm
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destroyera u.s. navy and a crash, sailors missing. over $7,000, and what does you get? >> nothing. nancy: the man who left dozens high and dry. jonathan: and a happy ending for this tubbt tabby.

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