All language subtitles for Watergate.S01E04.U.S.v.Nixon.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-TEPES_track3_[eng]

- McCord named John Dean as
having had advanced knowledge

of the Watergate operation.

- Right away you could see
the beginnings of an effort

to smear John Dean.

- I'm the low guy on the totem
pole, and they thought they

could dump things on me.

- This was a Dean plot.
- I know it.

- I didn't do it.

- Pressure was building today
on President Nixon to appoint

an independent investigator.

- It kept looking
worse and worse.

- John Dean has reported
today ready to testify.

- They want war?
I'll give 'em war.

I began by telling the
President that there was

a cancer growing
on the presidency,

and if the cancer
was not removed,

the President himself
would be killed by it.

I had let them very clearly
know that I was not going

to participate in
the matter any further

and I thought it was
time that everybody

start thinking about
telling the truth.

I, for the first time, said
in front of the President

that I thought that Haldeman,
Ehrlichman, and Dean

were all indictable
for instruction of--

obstruction of justice.

I could tell that both Haldeman
and particularly Ehrlichman

were very unhappy
with my comment.

- John Dean starts out as
a very flawed human being.

He was the typical
suck-up and apparatchik.

He was blinded by the power

and the access to all
that power can bring

and did not have
the experience

or the ethical fortitude
to resist the things

that he got involved in.

- John Dean has got to
the bottom of page 90

in a statement that is expected
to be about 245 pages.

So he's, uh, by no means
halfway through.

He's been talking steadily for
about two and one-half hours.

Almost every paragraph

contains some sort
of a bombshell.

male narrator: The special
prosecutors hadn't known

what Dean would say because
Dean had refused to talk

to them without immunity,
so they had watched

Dean on television along
with everyone else.

- The statements that Dean
was making seemed farfetched.

It was hard for me to believe
that, um, President Nixon

who--say what you will about
him--had this reputation

for surrounding himself
with efficient

and no-nonsense people--

would be dependent on someone

as young as John Dean to be
in a central role providing

advice about obstructing
the investigation.

Clearly his assertions
needed to be tested, um,

to the Nth degree in order
to be proved credible.

But there was
a powerful reason to think

that Dean might be
telling the truth.

- He had a huge incentive
to testify about everything

that he possibly could because
he was testifying under

a grant of use immunity
which meant that anything

he talked about or anything
we found out about as a result

of what he testified to we
could never use against him

in a trial.

- Meeting with the
President on April 15th.

As I was driving
into the White House,

I wondered to myself if
the meeting was a set-up.

The President, almost from
the outset, began asking me

a number of leading questions,
which was somewhat unlike

his normal conversational
relationships I'd had with him.

Which made me think that the
conversation was being taped

and a record was being
made to protect himself.

- After more than six hours

of unchallenged
testimony yesterday,

John Dean returns to
the Senate Watergate Committee

this morning to
answer questions.

- These senators on both sides
of the aisle know that

in front of the nation
they have got to ask

the tough questions.

As you know, Frank,
the senators are armed

with the White House
material, logs supplied

by the White House, and
they will use those logs

to try to, ah,
jar Dean's story.

- You're fully aware, Mr. Dean,
of the gravity of the charges

you have made under oath
against the highest official

of our land, the President
of the United States?

- Yes, I am.

- And being so aware, do you
still stand on your statement?

- Yes, I do.

- Why didn't you, as
Counsel to the President,

go to him at that time and
tell him what was happening?

- Senator, I was participating
in the cover-up at that time.

- Now you're testifying I
believe under use immunity

that this committee
has granted to you.

- That is correct.

- You would not be here
testifying today had we not

granted that use
immunity, would you?

- Probably be before
the prosecutors, downtown.

- Now, you refused to testify
before the Grand Jury,

I believe, did you not?
- That is correct.

- You pled the Fifth
Amendment there?

- That is correct.

- You have been bargaining with
them for immunity, which has

not yet been granted.
Is that an accurate statement?

- That is correct, Senator.

- The net sum of your testimony
is fairly mind-boggling.

It occurs to me that at this
point the central question

is simply put.

What did the President know,

and when did he know it?

Howard Baker became
famous for that question,

but it was less sincere
than it seemed.

- His famous question of

what did he know and when
did he know it was really--

I spotted it as did
Charlie immediately.

It was an effort to get
me to perjure myself

by narrowing me down.

'Cause Baker had been
told by then that,

"We think we can have
a way to discredit Dean."

So that's why they tried
to pull me through tape--

by conversation by conversation
by conversation,

to which I under-testified.

Nixon and Haldeman
had hoped to catch Dean

in mistakes about names,
places, and dates,

which is why they
wanted Baker to ask

extremely detailed questions.

But as Howard Baker
listened to Dean,

he began to realize that Nixon
probably couldn't survive,

and so the White House
started losing its mole.

- He never really even
tried to lay a glove on me,

because he didn't know
what would come out.

Next, the White
House argued that Dean

had masterminded the cover-up
without Nixon's knowledge.

Nixon's Watergate attorney,
J. Fred Buzhardt,

sent the Watergate Committee
a long list of accusations.

- And as you know,
Mr. Chairman,

the White House has
prepared a memorandum

and a set of questions
for use by this committee,

and so with that in mind,
I wish to proceed, sir.

Dean's activity in the cover-up

also made him,
perhaps unwittingly,

the principal author

of the political
and constitutional crisis

that Watergate now epitomizes.

It would have been
embarrassing for the President

if the true facts
had become known

shortly after June 17,

but it is the kind
of embarrassment

that an immensely
popular President

could easily have weathered.

The political--

The political problem
has been magnified

1,000 fold because
the truth is coming out--

coming to light so belatedly
because of insinuations

that the White House was
a party to the cover-up

and above all because
the White House was led

to say things about Watergate
that have since been found

to have been untrue.

These added consequences
were John Dean's doing.

- Well, Senator,
I think that, uh,

my testimony answers,
in great detail,

my dealings wi
Mr. Haldeman, Mr. Ehrlichman,

and the President,

and based on what I know
and knowing the--

the, uh, position I held
on the White House staff,

there is no way conceivable
that I could have done

and conceived and
implemented the plan

that they're trying
to suggest that I did.

- Relieved of his Watergate
duties by the President

and aware that his own
complicity had become obvious,

Dean decided to strike out on
his own to hunt for immunity

for the long list of
wrongs he had committed.

His increasingly shrill efforts

since that date
to save himself

by striking out
recklessly at others

are too familiar and too
painful to require mention.

This ends the memorandum,
Mr. Chairman.

- I would only add
to that, uh, Senator,

I think that if anyone who
has been on the receiving end

of adverse publicity,
it's been this witness

and not any of the
other witnesses,

and I have not dealt
in personalities,

nor will I deal
in personalities

at any time during
these hearings.

- John Dean lived right
across the street from me,

and I had the opportunity
on several occasions

to talk to him informally.

I happened to be
over at John's house

and I asked him
at that time,

was there anything else, aside
from what he had testified to,

that might be of interest?

And it was then that he showed
me the, uh, the enemies list.

- These are from a file, uh,

that's entitled "Opponents List
and Political Enemies Project."

- And, Sam, I understand
you have a copy

of the enemies list
that's been referred to.

- I do. I do, Frank.
It's not complete.

Remember, Dean said there
were several updatings.

- I'll first read
their names first,

but then I will tell you more
about them as inscribed here.

One, Arnold Picker
of United Artists,

described as a top
Muskie fundraiser.

- Ed Guthman, Managing Editor
of "The L.A. Times,"

a former Kennedy aide.

"A highly sophisticated hatchet
man against us in '68."

- Morton Halperin, leading
executive at Common Cause,

and it says, "A scandal
would be most helpful here,"

as a designation under him.

- Black Panthers,
Brookings Institution,

Common Cause,
Council for a Livable World,

Farmers Union NFO,

National Student Association,

Southern Christian
Leadership Conference,

and I'm just
skimming now, Frank.

- Don't skim, Sam.
Go ahead.

It's all interesting.

- And National Student
Association.

- Daniel Schorr of the Columbia
Broadcasting System

in Washington.

The note here is,
"A real media enemy."

- Apparently you're not
on the list, Frank.

- Well, that's all right.
That's all right.

Neither are you,
are you, Sam?

- I haven't found
my name either.

Let me just do one more--

I know you want
to take it back,

but here's a celebrities list.
- No, no.

- Carol Channing,
Bill Cosby,

Jane Fonda,
Steve McQueen,

Joe Namath, Paul Newman,
Gregory Peck,

Tony Randall, Barbra Streisand,
and Dick Gregory.

The White House apparently
didn't like any of them, Frank.

- Didn't like Joe Namath,
the football player?

- Well, his name's on the list.

It says, "Joe Namath, New York
Giants, businessman..."

- New York Giants?
- "And actor."

- Who made up that list?
- Well, I don't know!

Is this the list?
Is this the portion of the list

that's been turned over
to you by John Dean

as being so-called enemies
of the White House?

It is an addition to
a list we got earlier.

- That would
appear to be, Sam.

- I don't think, I don't think,
Sam, it's all of it.

- That's not all of it?

Well, there must be
200 names on this list.

- There are more.
- There are more.

- What is your understanding
of what the White House

was gonna do to these people
or try to do to them?

- Well, as you know,
in some of the papers

that you've already seen,
you've seen very derogatory

personal type of comments.

In other instances, you've
seen the suggestive use

of the Internal
Revenue Service.

- So your testimony
produces quite a stir.

- 80 million Americans,
that's what I was told.

The ones that
blew me away is--

were when Sam Dash, who was
apparently surprised also,

said I was--part of my
fan club included people like

Elizabeth Taylor.

They were getting telegrams
from people like that.

- He had done something
that was stunningly brave,

to come out and take on

the President of
the United States.

Think what it takes
to stick a knife

in the heart of a president,

and there was no guarantee

that Nixon wasn't going to
stay in power at that point.

- I'm quite aware of the fact
that in some circumstances

it's gonna be my word
against one man's word,

it's gonna be my word
against two men,

it's gonna be my word
against three men,

and probably in some cases

it's gonna be my word
against four men,

but I am prepared to stand
on my word and the truth

and the knowledge
and the facts I have,

and, uh, I know the truth
is my ally in this,

and I think ultimately the
truth is going to come out.

- So he has given
very damaging testimony.

As always, the question is,
is he to be believed?

- The credibility of this man
as the country perceives it

is so important.

The presidency itself
could hang on it.

The committee
forced Ehrlichman

and Haldeman to
testify after Dean.

- Let's be clear.

I did not cover up anything
to do with Watergate.

They denied everything,

and there was not yet
any definitive evidence

against them, but
they got nailed anyway.

- So there came a time
when you were administering

an investigative unit?

- Yes, in a--in a literal
sense, that's true.

- A literal sense?
- Yes, sir.

- But not in an actual sense?

- Well, I didn't--

Here I am, dueling with
a professor on the words.

- No, I'm not
dueling with you.

I'm just trying to get a--

- Professor, if you say
actual, it's actual.

- As soon as
Howard Baker realized

that much of what was being
said about Nixon was true

and based in fact,
he immediately backed off

and became probably
the most prominent questioner

of witnesses.

- When did you first learn
of the break-in?

- On the day following
the break-in

when I received this
telephone call toward dusk,

late in the afternoon.

- Did you talk to
the President on the 17th?

- No, I didn't.
Not that I can recall.

- Did you talk to
Mr. Haldeman on the 17th?

- I think I talked to him
the following day.

- Were you concerned about it?

- Not--not particularly.

- If someone on my staff,
even remotely on my staff

were charged with
breaking and entering

to the Democratic National
Committee headquarters

or someone I was even

associated with in
a newspaper column,

that I would be determined
to find out if that happened.

Now, was there this air of
urgency in the White House

on your part or Haldeman's
part or Dean's part?

It's not coming
through that way.

It sounds like a routine
staff operation,

but this wasn't a routine
staff operation.

- Uh...

Point one,
he wasn't on my staff,

but that's--
that's beside the point.

- Some believe
that your questioning

was really for the first
time a very strong,

hostile questioning of an
administration witness.

Now is that a fair statement?

- No, I don't think
it is, really.

If it is, it's an
unconscious situation,

because I'm trying today

as I was trying when
these hearings began

to treat everyone the same

and to pursue the matter
as dispassionately

as very passionate
circumstances will permit.

- Do you believe that spending
political campaign funds

to pay for the defense
of the criminal defendants

could embarrass
the President?

- I don't know.
I don't know what--

It depends on the circumstances
and the situation, I think.

- What about
these circumstances

and this situation
involving the Watergate?

- I don't know that I can
make a judgment on that.

- I'd like to submit
to you a document,

"Re: Charlotte, North Carolina,
demonstration.

"One, the most
recent intelligence

"that has been received from
the advanceman, Bill Henkel,

and the U.S.S.--" United States
Secret Service, I gather,

"is that we will have
demonstrators

"in Charlotte tomorrow.

"The number is running
between 100 and 200.

"The advanceman's gut reaction
is between 150 and 200.

They will be violent,"

with a penciled underlining
of "violent."

"They will have extremely
obscene signs,"

underlining "obscene."

And next to the
word "obscene,"

penciled in writing
which to me,

and you'll have
to confirm this--

it seems to be the same
as the writing

below your initialing.

It appears to be yours.
If not, I want you to say so--

saying, "Good."

Is that your writing there
where it says, "Good"?

- I believe it is, yes, sir.
- Mm-hmm.

- "As has been indicated
by their handbills.

"It will not only be directed
toward the President,

but also toward Billy Graham,"

underlining--underlining,
"also toward Billy Graham,"

where you penciled in "Great."

My question
specifically relates

to exactly what mentality
it is in the White House

that goes ahead
and indicates good

when the word violence
is mentioned,

when obscenity is mentioned,

which violence
and which obscenity

is to be directed against the
President of the United States.

How in any way
can that be good?

- Slowly but surely
as the facts came out,

the American people were
scratching their heads

as to their own President.

- I think it reflects poor
judgment on Nixon's part,

his, um, choice of
people surrounding him.

- I follow it a lot,
and I know that Nixon,

he's the head of it.

He knows everything that
goes on in the White House,

and they say he didn't, but
you know he knows all about it.

- Even if he isn't,
you know, it bothers me

in the sense that he
would surround himself

with the people that he
surrounded himself with

who were involved in it.

Though
increasingly isolated,

Nixon continued to fight,
including blocking requests

from Ervin's
Watergate Committee.

- I'll sit on those papers

if I have to burn every
Goddamn paper in this house.

I spoke to Ervin today.

I said, "What's
your goal, Senator?"

He'd written a letter
demanding documents.

He said, "We want
any activities

to do with Watergate."

And I said, "No, Senator.
That's not happening.

Everything from your
committee leaks."

I was decent,

but I was very tough.

- I think the press has had it,
and they know it.

- As far as I'm concerned,

so we'll have
a constitutional crisis.

If we lose, I'll
burn the papers.

"Your council isn't gonna
paw through my papers."

He got the message.

Baker was too soft.

He threw softballs to Dean,
he mishandled Mitchell.

- That's bad, but actually
it's working out pretty well.

Mitchell came across
as a mature, tough guy.

- Really?
- Yeah, and compared

to the selfish little bastards
Magruder and Dean,

at least you could see why
Mitchell was in a top job.

I of course believe what
you say, but it's irrelevant.

90% of the stuff
they're talking about

goes on all the time.

- That's right.

- Then you consider
the massive things

you've done for the country.

The treasonable actions
that these people condoned.

- They are treason.

- Taking 10,000 documents
in the middle of the war,

attacking the military.

Mansfield cut off
the funds for the war.

That is immoral.

- Well, don't you worry.

- I don't worry.

- Keep--keep fighting.

A few days later,

a Watergate Committee
investigator

questioned an obscure
White House official,

Alexander Butterfield.

Butterfield's answers
were a huge surprise,

and they suddenly revealed
Nixon's biggest secret,

something nobody had known,
not Nixon's own staff,

not Woodward and Bernstein,

not the FBI,

not the special prosecutor.

- Subcommittee
will come to order.

- My name is Alexander
Porter Butterfield.

- Mr. Butterfield, are you
aware of the installation

of any listening devices of the
Oval Office of the President?

- I was aware of listening
devices, yes, sir.

- As far as you know,
did Mr. Ehrlichman

or Mr. Dean know about
the existence

or the presence
of those devices?

- That would be very unlikely.

My guess is that they
definitely did not know.

- One last question,
if one were therefore

to reconstruct
the conversations

at any particular date,
what would be the best way

to reconstruct those
conversations, Mr. Butterfield?

- Well, in the obvious
manner, Mr. Dash.

To obtain the tape
and play it.

- I have no further
questions, Mr. Chairman.

- We have just heard
startling testimony

that the President's office,

the President's phone
are all bugged.

- We heard about it as
the nation heard about it.

That was a game-changer.

- John Dean didn't
know about it.

He had been relying solely
on his notes and memory

to testify to specific
conversations,

and now there's a chance that
every one of those is recorded,

every single word he spoke,

and he knows, as we did,

that if they didn't confirm
exactly what he said,

he'd have no credibility
and our case was over.

Nixon's lawyer,
J. Fred Buzhardt,

was blindsided by the tapes
because Nixon had lied to him.

A month earlier,
Buzhardt had heard

that Nixon had offered
to play a tape

for Henry Petersen of
the Justice Department.

So Buzhardt asked
Nixon about tapes,

and Nixon lied
about them on tape.

- He said Henry had told
him that you had offered

to permit him to hear a tape
of a conversation with Dean

that you had on--had
on Sunday, April 15th.

We did not comment on that.

- I haven't got a tape.

I don't have any tape.

- So that was a
misunderstanding on his part?

- In fact, I haven't
any notes on that.

- Had you known there
was a taping system?

- No.
- Did it surprise you?

- Yes, I--yes, it did.

It jolted me,
it surprised me.

And a week after it became
known, after I thought on it,

I sent Nixon a memo, I said,

"You're gonna have to
keep the Dean tapes,

those conversations--"

Again, I didn't think
they'd impeach Nixon.

I wasn't sure that--
did I believe Nixon.

"Keep the Dean tapes,

"keep the Brezhnev and all
the other foreign policy tapes.

"Take the rest of them out
and burn them.

"Take all the tapes
out and burn them,

"and get rid of the
Archie Cox and the--

"and the special
prosecutor's office

"of the independent counsel.

"Shut the thing down
because this is gonna grow

into a monster, and
it will kill us."

- The White House
today confirmed

that the President no longer
secretly records conversations.

Deputy News Secretary
Gerald Warren said, quote,

"The system has
been deactivated."

- The Senate
Watergate Committee

has just voted unanimously
to issue a subpoena

to President Nixon
for the tapes

that he's refused to
release to the committee.

The special prosecutors

wanted those tapes too.

- There was discussion about
whether this was a set-up,

whether the tapes would
have been fabricated

or otherwise designed to
lead us down the garden path,

but irrespective of that,
we needed to get them.

First,
Cox asked politely.

- I would urge that the tapes
be furnished for use

in my investigation
without restriction.

This procedure strikes
me as the method

of establishing the truth,
which is most fair

to everyone concerned,
including the President.

The White House refused,

so Cox issued subpoenas.

- Special prosecutor
Archibald Cox arrived

to tell the grand jury
that the President

had declined to
turn over the tapes,

but the grand jurors
rose one by one

and confirmed
it was their wish

to command the President
to produce the tapes.

- We felt any conversations

that were in furtherance
of a crime

were not protected by
executive privilege,

and so we were very careful
to pick conversations

that we felt we could make
a very valid argument

were likely to contain
conversations

about committing a crime.

- Traditionally, executive
privilege has been enough

to deny to the House
or the Senate

of presidential--

personal presidential
communications.

- Since Cox is in
the Executive Branch,

there is no separation
of powers obstacle,

which the President
could raise.

So while the Congress
may not get the tapes,

Mr. Cox may get them.

The subpoenas
to obtain the tapes

constituted Nixon's
next crisis.

Once again, he responded

with a nationally
televised speech.

- Many have urged that in order
to help prove the truth

of what I have said,
I should turn over

to the special prosecutor
and the Senate Committee

recordings of conversation
that I held in my office

or on my telephone.

However, a much more important
principle is involved

in this question than
what the tapes might prove

about Watergate.

Each day, a President
of the United States

is required to make difficult
decisions on grave issues.

It is absolutely necessary,

if the President is to
be able to do his job

as the country expects,

that he be able to talk
openly and candidly

with his advisors about
issues and individuals.

This kind of frank discussion
is only possible

when those who
take part in it

know that what they say
is in strictest confidence.

This principle
of confidentiality

of presidential
conversations is at stake

in the question
of these tapes.

- The tapes argument
occurred before

Judge Sirica first at
the district court level.

The President took the
position, through his attorney,

that he, as President,

could not be compelled
to do anything.

- I'm sure that the
President's legal position

is presented in good faith.

I think it's quite wrong.

- Judge Sirica ruled

a week after the
argument in our favor,

but the White House appeals.

As the pressure
on him mounted,

Nixon's public façade
started to crack.

- Something seemed to
anger the President.

As he arrived, he
accentuated a command

to his aide, Ron Ziegler,
with a hefty shove.

Meanwhile,
William Ruckelshaus

left the FBI to become
Elliot Richardson's deputy

at the Justice Department.

By then, they both realized
that Nixon might not survive.

- And when I left the FBI,

which was in July of 1973,

I told Elliot Richardson
that after being there

for three months,
I had concluded

that the President was
heavily involved in Watergate,

uh, pretty much
up to his neck.

But as serious
as Watergate already was,

Ruckelshaus and Richardson
had also been

secretly managing
another crisis,

one that made Watergate
even more dangerous.

- We spent most of
the summer of 1973

engaged in the
investigation of Agnew.

Some prosecutors
from Baltimore

came to Elliot, who was
then Attorney General,

Elliot Richardson,
and had told him

that they were receiving
a number of witnesses

in a grand jury who
claimed that Agnew

had received bribes when he
was the Governor of Maryland

and then subsequently
Vice President.

- Washington was stunned
today by the disclosure

that Vice President Agnew
is under criminal investigation

by federal authorities in
his home state of Maryland.

- I am denying them outright,
and I am labeling them,

and I think a person in my
position at a time like this

might be permitted this
departure from normal language

as damned lies.

- Have you ever considered
stepping down

even temporarily until
the matter is cleared up?

- I have not.

- A White House spokesman
would only say "no comment."

- Ziegler sort of cut the
legs out from under him,

saying in effect,
"Agnew's on his own,"

so I called Haig and I said,
"What are we doing?

"This guy's standing up
defending himself.

Why aren't we
standing with him?"

And Al said, "We got him taking
envelopes in the basement."

I had no idea.

- The case against
Agnew was so strong

that it was just
impossible to ignore.

We were really
worried about it,

because the President
was obviously in trouble,

well, we had this fear
that here would be

the Vice President raising
his hand as a witness

in his own trial and
the doors bursting open

and saying, "Leave
your right hand up.

You're the next President
of the United States."

- I will not resign
if indicted.

I will not resign if indicted.

- Mr. President?
- Mr. Tice.

- Should Vice President
Agnew be indicted,

would you expect him to
resign or somehow otherwise

stand down temporarily
until cleared?

- Uh, the Vice President
has not been indicted.

Charges have been thrown out
by innuendo and otherwise,

which he has denied
to me personally

and which he has
denied publicly,

and to talk about indictment
and to talk about resignation

even now--I'm not--I'm not
questioning your right

to ask the question,
understand,

but for me to talk about it
would be totally inappropriate,

and I make no comment in
answer to that question.

- Mr. President?
- Mr. President?

Then with
both President Nixon

and Vice President Agnew
under investigation,

a Mideast war plunged
the United States

into a global crisis.

Egypt and Syria, supported
by the Soviet Union,

mounted a surprise attack
against Israel.

- It is an all-out war.

That's how Israeli Defense
Minister Moshe Dayan

describes an invasion
of the Golan Heights

and the east bank of the Suez
by Syria and Egypt.

The Yom Kippur War
triggered multiple

geopolitical crises and
a superpower confrontation.

Nixon ordered
a massive airlift

of emergency military
supplies for Israel,

angering Arab nations
and the Soviet Union.

- The Soviet Union, according
to Washington sources,

has started an airlift to
resupply Egypt and Syria.

The State Department issued
a public warning

to the Russians,
saying their actions

could hurt U.S.-Soviet
relations.

- Saudi Arabia
announced today a cutoff

of all oil shipments
to the United States

because of U.S. arms
supplies to Israel.

Israel says its tanks
have pushed deeper into Egypt

on the western side
of the Suez Canal

and are now only
45 miles from Cairo.

- U.S. Intelligence
now reports

that the Soviets
have also given Egypt

35 new Russian fighter planes.

- Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger

has flown to Moscow.

- The White House story
is that the Kissinger mission

should not be seen
as a distraction

from Cox or Watergate, but
rather that it's the result

of a serious invitation
from the Russians

for urgent talks
to end the war.

In the middle
of the Mideast war

and with Nixon's fate
still unresolved,

the Vice Presidency
suddenly became vacant.

- Vice President Agnew,

bearing himself
as a tax cheat,

resigned today
under an agreement

which protects him
from prosecution

on charges of grafting.

- As he left the court,
the former Vice President

was publicly still
maintaining innocence

of any criminal activities.

- The reason that I have
changed my decision

to fight this matter is
because that I believe

it would be against
the national interest,

have a brutalizing
effect on my family

to go through a long,
two-year struggle

concerning this matter.

- What did you think
when you learned

that Mr. Agnew had in fact
been taking bribes in?

- Well, you know, I was--
I wrote him a note,

and I said, you know,
"I think you set a standard

"for courage in politics
by a Vice President

that will stand
for a long time,"

and I just told him
how much I admired him

and regret what was
happening to him.

- It was a long, long time

before they put his
statue in the Capitol.

I mean, it was only a few
years ago that they finally--

and it's still controversial,

but every Vice President
has a bust in the Capitol,

as you know.

- Today we had
the Arab-Israeli War

in full and ominous swing,

and the astounding and
unprecedented resignation

of the Vice President.

We also face the
unresolved question

of the President's
secret White House tapes.

Judge
John J. Sirica ruled

that the Senate
Watergate Committee

couldn't subpoena
Nixon's tapes,

but Sirica also ruled
that the special prosecutor

could subpoena them,
so Nixon continued to resist,

and Chief of Staff Al Haig

became Nixon's
chief explainer.

- At issue at this moment,
General Haig, are those tapes.

If there is nothing to hide,

what in the world could
better serve all of us

than for the President to
say, "Here are the tapes.

"They prove that I was right.

"They prove that
I was not involved.

"The American people have
the right to hear those tapes.

Let's settle this business."

- Any President--
any President

may have said things which,

if brought to
public consciousness

and brought to public light,

could do severe damage,
not only to the individual,

but even more importantly
to the institution

of the presidency itself.

- As Nixon
continued to resist,

it was totally unclear
how this was gonna play out.

We knew that a big
storm was coming.

We just didn't know
from what direction

or how bad it was gonna be.

- When we were planning
what's gonna happen,

who's gonna serve a subpoena
on the White House?

How are we going
to enforce it?

You know, who's gonna go
in to get the tapes?

What if the President refuses?

And we thought, well,
maybe we should take

some of the key documents
and bring them to our homes.

- I had done a
prosecution memo

about all the evidence
that we had

about President Nixon.

I took a copy of that and put
in my grandmother's basement.

Meanwhile,
the special prosecutors

had been playing another
chess game with John Dean.

They needed Dean's testimony,

but Dean was demanding
total immunity in return.

Archibald Cox didn't
like that idea,

but he needed Dean, so the
bargaining went on for months.

- Without Dean, it
wasn't absolutely clear

that we would have a case.

Besides the tapes,

that was the next-to-last
peg in a hole.

- John Dean was set
on getting immunity.

Archie Cox, however, held
fast to the proposition

that Dean, because
of his central role

in the obstruction of justice,

should not be granted immunity

by any prosecution authorities.

So he said, "I don't
care how long it takes.

Dean does not get immunity,
does not walk free."

And we set about
to find something

that was prosecutable
but which Dean

had not testified about
before the Senate,

and finally Dean gave up.

- For six months, Dean held
out for total immunity.

Today, Dean settled for just
one count of conspiracy.

- Not going to have
any comment.

I'm sorry, we issued
a statement in court,

and that's available
to the press.

- He agreed on his part,
that he would give us

what information
he could, freely,

that would be in help
in our investigation.

- For Dean, there were
risks and pain either way.

I think he had to make kind
of a global life choice,

and he made it.

Dean's
guilty plea signaled

that he would
now be testifying

against Ehrlichman,
Haldeman, Mitchell and Nixon.

So now, control of
the tapes was essential

to Nixon's survival, and
his back was against the wall.

Not coincidentally, Dean's
plea deal was announced

on Friday, October 19,
the day before Nixon

faced a midnight deadline
over surrendering the tapes.

- All day today,
Washington waited

for the President's lawyers
to take the next step

in the great and historic case

of the nine disputed
secret White House tapes.

- Midnight tonight
is the deadline

for President Nixon to
appeal to the Supreme Court

the order for him to surrender

the White House
Watergate tapes.

So Nixon tried
a last-minute gambit.

In our interview,
Patrick Buchanan

portrayed it as a
reasonable compromise.

- We didn't want to
give up the tapes,

but we were willing to give
up everything on Watergate

on the tapes, to
transcribe that

and to make summaries of that

and have that verified
by Senator John Stennis.

Bur Mr. Buchanan,
ever the loyalist,

left a few little things out.

- It's called the
Stennis Compromise.

Very devious.

Very Nixonian.

- We couldn't really
do a compromise

that didn't enable us
to have the tapes

as evidence at trial.

That was sort of
the red line.

So it had to fit
the rules of evidence.

- The only relevant
and admissible evidence

would be the
tapes themselves.

And there
was another problem:

Senator Stennis.

- Senator Stennis,
who was Chairman

of the Senate Armed
Services Committee,

had the nickname
"The Undertaker."

By reason of things
that those in authority

thought should never
see the light of day

being buried in his committee.

- I've never seen the tapes.
I don't know...

- But don't--
- How they gonna look

and how difficult it'd
be to hear and rehear.

Frankly, I've been told
that there's some there

that's almost unintelligible.

I mean, you can't hear it.

- The President was
obviously desperate

to get these tapes
back under his control

and not have them released,

and he was trying to think
of every way to do it.

We were spending
practically the entire day

trying to figure out
what to do next.

- Sources close
to the negotiations

indicated late today
that so far all efforts

to reach a compromise on
the tapes case had failed,

but Attorney General
Elliot Richardson

was described as
"still trying."

- I think Elliot
was trying very hard

to work out a compromise
'cause he thought

that was his responsibility
as Attorney General.

- Al Haig called me and said,

"We're gonna give
these summaries,

and we're gonna tell Cox,"
who was balking,

"that he's gonna have
to accept these,

"and if he doesn't, well,
he can do what he wants to do.

But if he persists,
Richardson will fire him."

I said three words,
"Is Elliot aboard?"

And Al said, "Yes."

I said, "In that case,
let's go ahead."

On the evening
of Friday, October 19,

the White House
publicly ordered Cox

to stop pursuing the tapes.

Cox refused, issued a
public statement himself

and announced a
press conference

for the next morning.

- Anybody know UPI's number?

- Uh...

- Jim Doyle from
Archibald Cox's office.

I have a long statement.
Are you ready?

"In my judgment the President

"is refusing to comply

with the court decrees."

- Friday night, the
President had sent

a letter to Richardson
telling him to fire Cox.

Richardson called Cox and
read the letter to him

over the phone

but said he was not
going to issue the order

because he didn't think
it was appropriate,

and finally on
Saturday morning,

Cox held his
press conference.

- Archie Cox lays
out why it is

that he cannot accept the
so-called Stennis Compromise.

- Some things I feel very
deeply about are at stake,

and I hope that I can explain
and defend them steadfastly.

I'm not looking for
a confrontation,

and I'm certainly
not out to get

the President of
the United States.

- Mr. Cox?
- Mr. Cox?

- Mr. Cox, so much has
been made of the tapes

that I'd like to ask you
whether you consider the tapes

absolutely vital to the
case you're developing.

- I think it is vital to know
whether they're vital.

- Sir, you're rather
unique in our history

because you've
personally rebuffed

the President of
the United States.

I'm sure it took a lot
of moral courage.

How could you
expect to succeed?

- Well, I thought
it was worth a try.

I thought it was important.

If it could be done,

I thought it would
help the country.

And if I lost,
what the hell?

- Nixon called me
to the Oval Office,

and I was in there
about 45 minutes,

and he said, "We
have to fire Cox,"

and Nixon gave me
the reasoning.

He said, "I can't be seen
by Brezhnev right now

as caving in to my
own Attorney General."

Nixon did care
about looking strong

to Brezhnev because
the Soviets were still

supporting Egypt and Syria
in the Yom Kippur War.

But Brezhnev was also
an excuse to fire Cox

and keep control of
the White House tapes.

- Richardson got a call
from the White House

saying that the President
wanted to see him.

He went over to
the White House,

and the President insisted
that he fire Cox,

and he wouldn't do it.

My assistant
came up and said,

"The President wants
you on the phone."

Well, it was pretty clear
what he wanted,

and when I got there,
it was actually Haig

that was on the phone,
it wasn't the President.

And he said,

"The President wants you
to fire Archibald Cox."

And I said, "Well, I've thought
about it and I can't do it.

"I think it's fundamentally
wrong what he's done.

"Cox has done nothing wrong,

"except carry out
his responsibilities,

"and I just can't bring
myself to fire a man

who's done what he's hired
to do by the President."

And Haig said, "Well,
your commander in chief

is ordering you
to fire Cox."

I said, "Oh, come on, Al,

"I know he's the
commander in chief.

"I don't have to listen
to you to determine that.

"What is he gonna do,
blow me out of my office

if I don't do
the right thing?"

- We all go home,

awaiting further
developments.

Because it's
Saturday afternoon,

I'm taking the
evening off.

Nothing happens in
official Washington

on a Saturday night.

- What's your general reaction
to the developments of the day?

- Well, there'll be
an announcement

out of the White
House later on.

I can't say a thing.
- There will be?

- Does it have to do
with the resignation

of the Attorney General?
- Well, it might,

but you'll have to
get it from them.

Excuse me.
- Thank you, Bill.

- Although the Deputy
Attorney General

didn't have much to say to
reporters at that moment,

it was evident from
his appearance that

something big was about to
happen in Washington tonight.

- But, look,
I was 30 years old.

I was--you know, thought
I was so sophisticated,

coming from New York
and having been

a federal prosecutor
for five years.

I didn't know squat
about real power

and how it might
be exercised.

At 8:20 p.m.
Saturday evening,

all normal
television broadcasts

were suddenly interrupted.

- This is Nelson Benton
at the White House.

President Nixon has
discharged Archibald Cox

as Watergate
special prosecutor.

Attorney General Elliot
Richardson has resigned

his post as Attorney General,

and when Deputy Attorney
General William Ruckelshaus

refused to carry out
orders from the President,

he was discharged as
Deputy Attorney General.

Uh, the acting
Attorney General now

will be Solicitor General Bork,

who informed special
prosecutor Cox

that he had been discharged.