1 00:00:46,129 --> 00:00:47,588 They'd better not push me on him, 2 00:00:47,672 --> 00:00:49,089 or I'll just kick them in the teeth on it. 3 00:00:49,174 --> 00:00:51,467 Well, I think, if they ... 4 00:00:54,763 --> 00:00:56,680 ... Internal Revenue people that are kicking 5 00:00:56,765 --> 00:00:59,349 Billy Graham around is Rosenberg. 6 00:00:59,434 --> 00:01:01,226 He is to be out. 7 00:01:01,311 --> 00:01:03,395 I don't give a goddamn what the story is. 8 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,022 He went on television. 9 00:01:07,067 --> 00:01:08,817 I have not. I've already ordered Connally, 10 00:01:08,902 --> 00:01:10,569 we're going after the Chandlers, 11 00:01:10,653 --> 00:01:12,738 every one individually, collectively, 12 00:01:12,822 --> 00:01:14,782 their income taxes are starting this week. 13 00:01:14,866 --> 00:01:17,576 Every one of those sons of bitches. 14 00:01:19,954 --> 00:01:22,748 Well, this is something that we can really hang Teddy or ... 15 00:01:22,832 --> 00:01:23,791 Yeah. 16 00:01:23,875 --> 00:01:25,167 ... or the Kennedy clan with. 17 00:01:25,251 --> 00:01:27,503 I'm gonna want to put that in Colson's hands. 18 00:01:27,587 --> 00:01:29,755 And we're gonna want to run with it. 19 00:01:32,092 --> 00:01:33,926 A controversial day in politics. 20 00:01:34,010 --> 00:01:36,386 A man arrested trying to bug the offices 21 00:01:36,471 --> 00:01:39,098 of the Democratic National Committee in Washington 22 00:01:39,182 --> 00:01:40,474 turns out to be an employee 23 00:01:40,558 --> 00:01:43,644 of President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign committee. 24 00:01:43,728 --> 00:01:47,106 He is one of five persons surprised and arrested yesterday 25 00:01:47,190 --> 00:01:49,608 inside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee 26 00:01:49,692 --> 00:01:50,901 in Washington. 27 00:01:50,985 --> 00:01:52,444 And guess what else he is. 28 00:01:52,529 --> 00:01:54,488 A consultant of President Richard Nixon's 29 00:01:54,572 --> 00:01:56,490 re-election campaign committee. 30 00:01:56,574 --> 00:01:58,575 The trial started today at the federal courthouse 31 00:01:58,660 --> 00:02:00,285 for the five burglars caught breaking into 32 00:02:00,370 --> 00:02:03,122 the Democratic National Party headquarters. 33 00:02:03,206 --> 00:02:04,289 Stand by for camera. 34 00:02:04,374 --> 00:02:06,917 John Dean, the ex-White House Counsel, testified today 35 00:02:07,001 --> 00:02:10,045 that President Nixon knew about the Watergate cover-up. 36 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:12,339 At one point in the conversation, 37 00:02:12,423 --> 00:02:13,841 I recall the President telling me 38 00:02:13,925 --> 00:02:17,344 to keep a good list of the press people giving us trouble 39 00:02:17,428 --> 00:02:20,722 because we will make life difficult for them after the election. 40 00:02:20,807 --> 00:02:23,559 Dean read through a 245-page statement 41 00:02:23,643 --> 00:02:26,186 characterizing a president who was easily outraged 42 00:02:26,271 --> 00:02:29,022 over war protesters and political adversaries, 43 00:02:29,107 --> 00:02:30,941 and outlining a range of offenses, 44 00:02:31,025 --> 00:02:32,776 including wiretapping of newsmen, 45 00:02:32,861 --> 00:02:34,987 a Charles Colson plan to firebomb 46 00:02:35,071 --> 00:02:37,114 and burglarize the Brookings Institution, 47 00:02:37,198 --> 00:02:40,159 and spying on Senator Kennedy and other Democrats. 48 00:02:40,243 --> 00:02:43,662 The misuse of power is the very essence of tyranny. 49 00:02:43,746 --> 00:02:45,789 And consider, if you will, 50 00:02:45,874 --> 00:02:49,835 the frightening implications of that for a free society. 51 00:02:50,170 --> 00:02:54,006 The President today accepted the resignation of three of his closest aides. 52 00:02:54,090 --> 00:02:56,675 Out is H.R. Haldeman, Chief of Staff. 53 00:02:56,759 --> 00:02:59,261 Also quitting under fire is John Ehrlichman. 54 00:02:59,345 --> 00:03:01,597 Ehrlichman was a key political advisor. 55 00:03:01,681 --> 00:03:02,890 Good morning. The Supreme Court 56 00:03:02,974 --> 00:03:04,600 has just ruled on the tapes controversy, 57 00:03:04,684 --> 00:03:07,019 and here is Carl Stern, who has that ruling. 58 00:03:07,103 --> 00:03:09,396 It is a unanimous decision, Doug, eight to zero. 59 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:11,773 Justice Rehnquist took no part in the decision 60 00:03:11,858 --> 00:03:15,694 ordering the President of the United States to turn over the tapes. 61 00:03:17,989 --> 00:03:20,157 It's an eight-to-zero unanimous opinion. 62 00:03:20,241 --> 00:03:21,950 A White House aide told NBC News today 63 00:03:22,035 --> 00:03:23,702 that impeachment of the President 64 00:03:23,786 --> 00:03:27,623 by the full House of Representatives now is a virtual certainty. 65 00:03:29,459 --> 00:03:31,376 These are, with no serious doubt, 66 00:03:31,461 --> 00:03:34,922 the last hours of the 37th presidency of the United States. 67 00:03:39,177 --> 00:03:41,386 This is indeed an historic day, 68 00:03:41,471 --> 00:03:45,057 the only time a president has ever resigned from office 69 00:03:45,141 --> 00:03:47,809 in our nearly 200 years of history. 70 00:03:47,894 --> 00:03:50,771 You see the White House there, and in the White House, 71 00:03:50,855 --> 00:03:52,189 in just a few moments now, 72 00:03:52,273 --> 00:03:55,359 President Nixon will be appearing before the people, 73 00:03:55,443 --> 00:03:59,321 perhaps for the last time as President of the United States. 74 00:04:00,698 --> 00:04:02,908 15 seconds, Mr. President. 75 00:04:08,790 --> 00:04:12,501 Okay, that's five, four, three ... 76 00:04:16,339 --> 00:04:19,424 Good evening. This is the 37th time 77 00:04:19,509 --> 00:04:22,261 I have spoken to you from this office 78 00:04:22,345 --> 00:04:24,888 where so many decisions have been made 79 00:04:24,973 --> 00:04:27,474 that have shaped the history of our nation. 80 00:04:27,558 --> 00:04:29,559 I remember exactly where I was. 81 00:04:30,979 --> 00:04:34,314 My father called. The phone rang, my father called and he said, 82 00:04:34,399 --> 00:04:37,651 "Turn on the TV right now. Richard Nixon's going down." 83 00:04:37,735 --> 00:04:41,446 I was at home with friends, and we were watching television at home. 84 00:04:41,531 --> 00:04:44,324 We stayed up and, like everyone else, I'd been glued to 85 00:04:44,409 --> 00:04:46,910 the Select and Judiciary Committee hearings night after night. 86 00:04:46,995 --> 00:04:49,121 And then finally, it had come to this. 87 00:04:49,205 --> 00:04:54,960 Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. 88 00:04:55,044 --> 00:04:58,046 But instead of the satisfaction I imagined I'd feel, 89 00:04:58,131 --> 00:05:00,382 I just got angrier and angrier, 90 00:05:00,466 --> 00:05:03,218 because there was no admission of guilt. 91 00:05:03,303 --> 00:05:04,720 There was no apology. 92 00:05:04,804 --> 00:05:06,179 Little did I know 93 00:05:06,264 --> 00:05:08,390 that I would one day be part of the team 94 00:05:08,474 --> 00:05:10,851 that would try and elicit that apology. 95 00:05:10,935 --> 00:05:13,979 To leave office before my term is completed 96 00:05:14,063 --> 00:05:17,024 is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. 97 00:05:17,108 --> 00:05:19,609 I have never been a quitter. 98 00:05:19,694 --> 00:05:21,320 And that that team would be led 99 00:05:21,404 --> 00:05:25,115 by the most unlikely of white knights, 100 00:05:25,199 --> 00:05:27,117 a man with no political convictions whatsoever, 101 00:05:27,201 --> 00:05:31,413 a man who, as far as I know, had never even voted once in his life. 102 00:05:32,248 --> 00:05:36,376 But he was a man who had one big advantage over the rest of us. 103 00:05:37,628 --> 00:05:39,921 He understood television. 104 00:05:46,471 --> 00:05:51,516 And now, the host of Frost Over Australia, 105 00:05:51,601 --> 00:05:54,269 Mr. David Frost! 106 00:05:55,521 --> 00:05:58,106 Thank you, thank you. 107 00:05:59,942 --> 00:06:01,526 Hello. Good evening. 108 00:06:01,611 --> 00:06:04,696 And with the eyes of the world focused on the White House, 109 00:06:04,781 --> 00:06:07,407 here in Australia, burglars have broken into 110 00:06:07,492 --> 00:06:09,826 a meat factory in Brisbane 111 00:06:09,911 --> 00:06:12,704 and stolen a ton of pork sausages. 112 00:06:13,956 --> 00:06:18,627 The Queensland police are looking for men in a long, thin getaway car. 113 00:06:21,672 --> 00:06:23,382 Now, my first guest tonight ... 114 00:06:23,466 --> 00:06:24,591 Well, we in the Nixon camp 115 00:06:24,675 --> 00:06:26,134 really didn't know that much about David Frost, 116 00:06:26,219 --> 00:06:29,221 other than he was a British talk show host 117 00:06:29,305 --> 00:06:31,056 with something of a playboy reputation. 118 00:06:31,140 --> 00:06:34,851 He'd had a talk show here in the US that had won some awards 119 00:06:34,936 --> 00:06:40,023 but hadn't syndicated well and had been dropped by the network. 120 00:06:40,108 --> 00:06:41,566 He ended up taking it down to Australia, 121 00:06:41,651 --> 00:06:45,404 which is, I believe, where he was when the President resigned. 122 00:06:45,655 --> 00:06:48,156 Next week's guest will be Evonne Goolagong. 123 00:06:48,241 --> 00:06:50,158 We'll see you then. God bless. 124 00:06:52,954 --> 00:06:54,621 Great show, David. Thanks, Noah. 125 00:06:54,705 --> 00:06:55,914 Come and look at this. 126 00:06:55,998 --> 00:06:57,082 Nixon leaving the White House. 127 00:06:57,166 --> 00:06:59,918 A dark day for Richard Nixon, who has drawn crowds 128 00:07:00,002 --> 00:07:01,336 to the vast Ellipse south of the White House before. 129 00:07:01,421 --> 00:07:02,921 What, this is live? Yeah. 130 00:07:03,005 --> 00:07:05,674 But those were triumphs. This is not. 131 00:07:05,758 --> 00:07:08,260 What time is it in Washington? 132 00:07:08,344 --> 00:07:09,761 9:00 a.m. 133 00:07:09,846 --> 00:07:10,929 Why didn't he wait? 134 00:07:11,013 --> 00:07:12,472 It's 6:00 in the morning on the West Coast. 135 00:07:12,557 --> 00:07:14,683 Half his audience is still asleep. 136 00:07:16,185 --> 00:07:19,020 All right, you blokes, let's get the set broken down. 137 00:07:19,105 --> 00:07:23,150 ... are witnesses to the saddest day in the life of Richard Nixon, 138 00:07:23,234 --> 00:07:27,154 his last moments as President of the United States, 139 00:07:27,238 --> 00:07:30,866 a moment unlike any other in the history of this country. 140 00:07:47,884 --> 00:07:49,718 Richard Nixon, who goes now 141 00:07:49,802 --> 00:07:52,053 from the power of the presidency 142 00:07:52,138 --> 00:07:54,347 to a form of exile in California. 143 00:07:54,432 --> 00:07:57,225 Find out the numbers for this, will you? Worldwide. 144 00:08:10,740 --> 00:08:12,616 I remember his face. 145 00:08:14,118 --> 00:08:16,453 Staring out the window. 146 00:08:16,537 --> 00:08:21,208 Down below him, a liberal America cheered, gloated. 147 00:08:22,919 --> 00:08:25,420 Hippies, draft dodgers, dilettantes, 148 00:08:25,505 --> 00:08:28,882 the same people who'd spit on me when I got back from Vietnam. 149 00:08:30,051 --> 00:08:34,095 They'd gotten rid of Richard Nixon, their bogeyman. 150 00:08:46,776 --> 00:08:49,778 So what's so important that it couldn't wait, that it had to be today? 151 00:08:49,862 --> 00:08:54,282 I've had an idea, John, rather a bold idea for an interview. 152 00:08:54,367 --> 00:08:55,825 Fish and chips, please. 153 00:08:55,910 --> 00:08:57,285 And in a moment ... 154 00:08:57,370 --> 00:08:58,703 Well, it's too late now. It's done. 155 00:08:58,788 --> 00:09:00,121 I've called his people ... 156 00:09:00,206 --> 00:09:01,373 You? 157 00:09:01,457 --> 00:09:03,792 Beans, peas and lamb, please. 158 00:09:03,876 --> 00:09:05,335 And made an offer. 159 00:09:05,419 --> 00:09:09,881 Now, if the subject were to say yes, 160 00:09:11,801 --> 00:09:17,264 well, he's rather a big fish that swims in not-untricky waters. 161 00:09:17,765 --> 00:09:21,518 So it goes without saying that I'd want a dear friend 162 00:09:21,602 --> 00:09:24,437 and the finest producer I know by my side. 163 00:09:29,569 --> 00:09:30,777 So who is it? 164 00:09:32,154 --> 00:09:33,989 Richard Nixon. 165 00:09:34,073 --> 00:09:36,700 Richard Nixon? 166 00:09:36,784 --> 00:09:39,160 Well, come on, don't look like that. 167 00:09:39,245 --> 00:09:40,912 Well, how would you expect me to look? 168 00:09:40,997 --> 00:09:44,249 I spent yesterday evening watching you interview the Bee Gees. 169 00:09:44,333 --> 00:09:46,167 Weren't they terrific? 170 00:09:46,252 --> 00:09:50,255 Come on, John, we've done political interviews before. 171 00:09:51,507 --> 00:09:54,009 So, okay, so what kind of interview? 172 00:09:54,093 --> 00:09:59,306 A full, extensive look-back over his life, his presidency. 173 00:09:59,390 --> 00:10:00,932 And? 174 00:10:01,017 --> 00:10:02,434 And what? Come on, David. 175 00:10:02,518 --> 00:10:03,977 Surely the only thing that would interest anyone 176 00:10:04,061 --> 00:10:06,396 about Richard Nixon would be a confession. 177 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:08,231 A full, no-holds-barred confession. 178 00:10:08,316 --> 00:10:10,525 Well, we'll get that, too. 179 00:10:10,610 --> 00:10:11,610 From Richard Nixon? 180 00:10:11,694 --> 00:10:12,986 Come on, John. 181 00:10:13,070 --> 00:10:15,363 Just think of the numbers it would get. 182 00:10:16,115 --> 00:10:17,782 Do you know how many people watched 183 00:10:17,867 --> 00:10:19,451 his farewell speech in the White House? 184 00:10:19,535 --> 00:10:21,578 Four hundred million. 185 00:10:22,955 --> 00:10:24,956 But in the end, David heard nothing. 186 00:10:25,041 --> 00:10:26,666 And soon after arriving in California, 187 00:10:26,751 --> 00:10:30,378 Nixon was rushed to hospital with an acute attack of phlebitis. 188 00:10:43,809 --> 00:10:46,227 I think it was around this time that Gerald Ford, 189 00:10:46,312 --> 00:10:47,312 who was the new President, 190 00:10:47,396 --> 00:10:49,481 and who was desperate to move the agenda on from Watergate, 191 00:10:49,565 --> 00:10:52,651 gave Nixon a full, free and absolute pardon. 192 00:10:52,735 --> 00:10:55,445 Now therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, 193 00:10:55,529 --> 00:10:58,156 President of the United States, 194 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,160 have granted, and by these presents do grant, 195 00:11:02,244 --> 00:11:04,788 a full, free and absolute pardon 196 00:11:04,872 --> 00:11:10,043 unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States. 197 00:11:10,127 --> 00:11:12,504 It meant that the man who had committed the greatest felony 198 00:11:12,588 --> 00:11:15,256 in American political history would never stand trial. 199 00:11:15,341 --> 00:11:17,759 It was like he slipped out the back door. 200 00:11:18,969 --> 00:11:20,720 A public opinion poll indicates 201 00:11:20,805 --> 00:11:24,182 a two-to-one disapproval of the pardoning of Richard Nixon. 202 00:11:24,266 --> 00:11:27,435 One telegram from Virginia said, "Roosevelt had his New Deal, 203 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:31,106 "Truman had his Fair Deal, now Ford has his crooked deal." 204 00:11:31,190 --> 00:11:33,191 There was no deal, period. 205 00:11:33,275 --> 00:11:35,610 I don't think the truth will ever come out. 206 00:11:35,695 --> 00:11:37,362 The American people need to know the truth, 207 00:11:37,446 --> 00:11:40,657 and I don't think it will ever now be fully known. 208 00:12:03,806 --> 00:12:06,599 So how do we want to address the college protests? 209 00:12:06,684 --> 00:12:07,892 Well, do we want to lift some quotes 210 00:12:07,977 --> 00:12:11,020 from the "stand up and be counted" speech in 1970? 211 00:12:11,147 --> 00:12:12,772 - Sir? - You know, maybe we're just better off 212 00:12:12,857 --> 00:12:14,399 using the whole Lincoln Memorial memo. 213 00:12:14,483 --> 00:12:15,900 Just include the whole thing. 214 00:12:15,985 --> 00:12:18,445 Mr. President, Swifty Lazar is here. 215 00:12:18,529 --> 00:12:20,780 Okay. No, no, stick around. 216 00:12:20,865 --> 00:12:23,074 You're gonna get a kick out of this. 217 00:12:23,159 --> 00:12:26,369 This is my literary agent from Hollywood. 218 00:12:26,454 --> 00:12:28,663 Hygiene obsessive. 219 00:12:31,542 --> 00:12:34,085 Mr. President, good to see you. 220 00:12:34,170 --> 00:12:35,795 Nice to see you. 221 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:38,465 These are folks helping me with my book. 222 00:12:38,549 --> 00:12:41,426 Diane Sawyer, Frank Gannon, Irving Lazar. 223 00:12:41,510 --> 00:12:43,094 Nice to meet you. Miss Sawyer. 224 00:12:43,179 --> 00:12:44,888 Pleasure. Mr. Gannon. 225 00:12:48,809 --> 00:12:50,810 Okay, that's it. I'll see you after lunch. 226 00:12:50,895 --> 00:12:52,896 So how you feeling, sir? 227 00:12:53,314 --> 00:12:57,859 I'm better, thank you. Though not yet well enough to golf, 228 00:12:58,694 --> 00:13:01,571 thank God. I despise that game. 229 00:13:02,573 --> 00:13:05,116 Imagine, six weeks out of office 230 00:13:05,201 --> 00:13:07,702 as President of the United States, 231 00:13:07,787 --> 00:13:10,622 and they'd have me putting in my hospital room. 232 00:13:10,706 --> 00:13:12,707 Never retire, Mr. Lazar. 233 00:13:13,167 --> 00:13:18,087 To me, the unhappiest people of the world are retired. 234 00:13:18,172 --> 00:13:19,964 No purpose. 235 00:13:20,049 --> 00:13:22,801 What makes life mean something is purpose. 236 00:13:22,885 --> 00:13:25,762 A goal. A battle. A struggle. 237 00:13:25,846 --> 00:13:28,056 Well, even if you don't win it. 238 00:13:28,557 --> 00:13:31,059 When my doctor declared me unfit 239 00:13:31,143 --> 00:13:32,977 to give testimony in the Watergate trial, 240 00:13:33,062 --> 00:13:35,271 everybody thought I'd be relieved. 241 00:13:35,356 --> 00:13:36,940 Well, they were wrong. 242 00:13:37,024 --> 00:13:38,525 That was the lowest I got. 243 00:13:38,609 --> 00:13:43,029 Well, if it's a challenge you want, here's one you might enjoy. 244 00:13:43,113 --> 00:13:47,033 How to spend $2 million, 2.3 to be precise. 245 00:13:47,117 --> 00:13:48,910 It's what I got for your memoirs. 246 00:13:48,994 --> 00:13:50,453 Well, thank you. 247 00:13:50,538 --> 00:13:51,788 Eh ... 248 00:13:51,872 --> 00:13:53,623 It might be a little short of what I wanted, 249 00:13:53,707 --> 00:13:57,252 but let me assure you, it's a whole lot more than they wanted. 250 00:13:57,336 --> 00:13:59,337 That book is important to me. 251 00:13:59,421 --> 00:14:03,132 It's probably the only chance I'm gonna get to put the record straight 252 00:14:03,217 --> 00:14:06,594 and remind people the Nixon years weren't all bad. 253 00:14:08,055 --> 00:14:11,933 You know, if you're trying to put the record straight, 254 00:14:12,017 --> 00:14:13,476 I'd at least talk to him. 255 00:14:13,561 --> 00:14:14,686 Who? 256 00:14:15,104 --> 00:14:18,439 David Frost. English talk show guy. 257 00:14:19,191 --> 00:14:22,068 Why would I want to talk to David Frost? 258 00:14:22,152 --> 00:14:24,946 Well, a while back, he wrote asking for an interview. 259 00:14:25,030 --> 00:14:26,364 No. 260 00:14:26,448 --> 00:14:27,740 Well, we didn't get back to him. 261 00:14:27,825 --> 00:14:30,159 Frankly, we didn't find him appropriate. 262 00:14:30,244 --> 00:14:32,996 Well, I thought that we were doing one with CBS. 263 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,039 We are. I just figured doing it with Frost 264 00:14:35,124 --> 00:14:37,208 would be a whole lot easier than doing it with Mike Wallace. 265 00:14:37,293 --> 00:14:41,629 It would, but it would have a lot less, you know, credibility. 266 00:14:41,714 --> 00:14:45,258 True, true. Could probably get more money. 267 00:14:48,053 --> 00:14:49,804 Really? Look. 268 00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:53,266 We'll always have 350 on the table from CBS. 269 00:14:53,350 --> 00:14:57,103 But if I could get Frost to pay more and secure better terms, 270 00:14:57,605 --> 00:14:59,689 it might be a shame to pass. 271 00:15:00,274 --> 00:15:03,484 It'd be interesting to know where he is right now. 272 00:15:03,903 --> 00:15:06,487 We tied him to railway tracks, and he escaped. 273 00:15:07,031 --> 00:15:09,824 We buried him alive, and he walked free. 274 00:15:09,909 --> 00:15:14,287 Today we're lowering escape artist Derek Harrison into the water 275 00:15:14,371 --> 00:15:18,708 to see if he can miraculously cheat death once more. 276 00:15:18,792 --> 00:15:21,210 Good evening, and welcome to Great Escapes. 277 00:15:21,295 --> 00:15:23,212 My name is David Frost. 278 00:15:25,257 --> 00:15:26,841 Okay, that is a cut. 279 00:15:26,926 --> 00:15:28,009 Thank you. 280 00:15:28,093 --> 00:15:31,387 In any deal, you need to know your opponent's breaking point. 281 00:15:32,806 --> 00:15:34,474 To assess that, you might call them 282 00:15:34,558 --> 00:15:36,809 late at night or at the weekend. 283 00:15:37,436 --> 00:15:40,271 If they take the call, you know they're desperate. 284 00:15:40,356 --> 00:15:43,775 And from that moment on, you know you have the upper hand. 285 00:15:54,870 --> 00:15:55,995 Hello? 286 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:57,789 Mr. Frost? Irving Lazar. 287 00:15:59,166 --> 00:16:00,625 Who? 288 00:16:00,709 --> 00:16:03,878 Swifty Lazar. I represent President Nixon. 289 00:16:03,963 --> 00:16:05,254 What time is it? 290 00:16:05,339 --> 00:16:06,297 Bad time? 291 00:16:06,382 --> 00:16:09,175 No! Not at all. 292 00:16:12,221 --> 00:16:16,057 I'm calling with regard to your request for an interview 293 00:16:16,141 --> 00:16:19,143 and to say, having considered it, 294 00:16:19,228 --> 00:16:23,189 my client is not necessarily opposed to the idea. 295 00:16:23,273 --> 00:16:26,985 Really? Well, that's terrific news! 296 00:16:27,069 --> 00:16:28,820 For God's sake. 297 00:16:28,904 --> 00:16:30,947 I got $500,000. 298 00:16:31,031 --> 00:16:32,407 Is that good? 299 00:16:32,491 --> 00:16:37,120 Mr. President, it's a half a million dollars for a news interview. 300 00:16:37,204 --> 00:16:38,454 It's unprecedented. 301 00:16:38,539 --> 00:16:40,707 Yeah? Well, what's the catch? 302 00:16:40,791 --> 00:16:43,960 With Frost? None. It'll be a big wet kiss. 303 00:16:44,545 --> 00:16:47,171 This guy'll be so grateful to be getting it at all, 304 00:16:47,256 --> 00:16:48,923 he'll pitch puffballs all night 305 00:16:49,008 --> 00:16:51,843 and pay a half a million dollars for the privilege. 306 00:16:55,222 --> 00:16:57,598 Well, you think you could get 550? 307 00:16:58,892 --> 00:17:00,226 I got 6. 308 00:17:01,937 --> 00:17:03,771 - David, how could you have done that? - What? 309 00:17:03,856 --> 00:17:05,773 $600,000. That's a fortune. 310 00:17:05,858 --> 00:17:06,858 200 on signature? 311 00:17:06,942 --> 00:17:08,359 Don't worry about the money. 312 00:17:08,444 --> 00:17:10,820 My God. Most Americans think he belongs in jail. 313 00:17:10,904 --> 00:17:12,572 You're making him a rich man. 314 00:17:12,656 --> 00:17:14,574 Plus, by outbidding them, you've already made enemies 315 00:17:14,658 --> 00:17:16,159 of the networks. They're just jealous. 316 00:17:16,243 --> 00:17:18,745 They're already sounding off about checkbook journalism. 317 00:17:18,829 --> 00:17:20,246 And if the networks are against you, 318 00:17:20,330 --> 00:17:21,706 syndication's always going to be a struggle. 319 00:17:21,790 --> 00:17:23,374 No syndication, no advance sales. 320 00:17:23,459 --> 00:17:24,959 No advance sales, no commercials. 321 00:17:25,044 --> 00:17:26,461 No commercials, no revenue. 322 00:17:26,545 --> 00:17:30,214 And here's the bigger question, why do it? You don't need it. 323 00:17:30,299 --> 00:17:31,382 Your career's in great shape. 324 00:17:31,467 --> 00:17:33,634 This will just spread you across three continents, 325 00:17:33,719 --> 00:17:35,303 jeopardize the other shows. 326 00:17:35,387 --> 00:17:36,763 Isn't it true that Channel Nine in Australia 327 00:17:36,847 --> 00:17:38,556 want you to do another season of your talk show for them? 328 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:39,682 Yes. And London, too? 329 00:17:39,767 --> 00:17:41,893 Yes, but that would be London and Australia. 330 00:17:41,977 --> 00:17:43,728 This would be ... What? 331 00:17:44,313 --> 00:17:45,813 You wouldn't understand, John. 332 00:17:45,898 --> 00:17:48,733 You were never part of the show in New York, 333 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:51,152 but it's indescribable. 334 00:17:51,236 --> 00:17:56,324 Success in America is unlike success anywhere else. 335 00:17:57,743 --> 00:17:59,786 And the emptiness when it's gone. 336 00:18:01,163 --> 00:18:06,626 And the sickening thought that it may never come back. 337 00:18:07,544 --> 00:18:09,921 You know, there's a restaurant in New York called Sardi's. 338 00:18:10,005 --> 00:18:11,756 Ordinary mortals can't get a table. 339 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,508 John, the place was my canteen ! 340 00:18:13,592 --> 00:18:14,675 You know, I'd be happier 341 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:15,968 if I heard some kind of vision 342 00:18:16,053 --> 00:18:17,220 that you had for this interview. 343 00:18:17,304 --> 00:18:18,429 Excuse me, Mr. Frost. 344 00:18:18,514 --> 00:18:19,639 I'd heard you were going to be here. 345 00:18:19,723 --> 00:18:21,641 Would you mind? - Of course. 346 00:18:21,725 --> 00:18:23,226 But I don't. I just hear a man doing it 347 00:18:23,310 --> 00:18:24,560 because it would create headlines 348 00:18:24,645 --> 00:18:26,729 or give him a place at the top table. 349 00:18:26,814 --> 00:18:28,147 And that is what makes me nervous. 350 00:18:28,232 --> 00:18:30,942 And you do nervous so beautifully, John. 351 00:18:31,026 --> 00:18:34,362 "Hello, good evening and welcome." 352 00:18:37,533 --> 00:18:39,450 I don't actually say that. 353 00:18:39,535 --> 00:18:41,119 Hello, Mr. Frost. 354 00:18:47,709 --> 00:18:48,918 Champagne? 355 00:18:49,002 --> 00:18:50,711 No, thank you. 356 00:18:51,713 --> 00:18:53,756 Another glass, sir? 357 00:19:11,275 --> 00:19:13,442 You don't like champagne? 358 00:19:14,903 --> 00:19:16,487 Not on airplanes. 359 00:19:16,572 --> 00:19:18,865 Yes, it dehydrates one terribly. 360 00:19:19,700 --> 00:19:22,326 The trick is to have a glass of water on the go, too. 361 00:19:22,411 --> 00:19:24,954 Like the Viennese serve coffee. 362 00:19:25,038 --> 00:19:27,290 Well, I've never been to Vienna. 363 00:19:27,374 --> 00:19:29,834 Oh. Well, you'd like it. 364 00:19:29,918 --> 00:19:32,920 It's like Paris without the French. 365 00:19:35,924 --> 00:19:37,508 What's your name? 366 00:19:37,593 --> 00:19:38,759 Caroline. 367 00:19:38,844 --> 00:19:39,844 David. 368 00:19:39,928 --> 00:19:42,638 Yes, I know. David Frost. 369 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,434 "Hello and good evening and welcome." 370 00:19:51,190 --> 00:19:54,859 You know, I heard an interview with you recently on the radio. 371 00:19:54,943 --> 00:19:57,278 You were giving it from the back of your Rolls-Royce. 372 00:19:57,362 --> 00:19:58,487 Bentley. 373 00:19:58,572 --> 00:19:59,614 On the phone. 374 00:19:59,698 --> 00:20:00,948 They said that you were a person 375 00:20:01,033 --> 00:20:04,035 who defined the age we live in. 376 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:05,745 Really? Mmm. 377 00:20:06,288 --> 00:20:07,872 You and Vidal Sassoon. 378 00:20:09,583 --> 00:20:12,543 But what made you exceptional, they said, 379 00:20:12,628 --> 00:20:16,547 was that you were a person who had achieved great fame 380 00:20:16,632 --> 00:20:19,967 without possessing any discernible quality. 381 00:20:20,052 --> 00:20:21,260 How kind. Mmm-hmm. 382 00:20:21,345 --> 00:20:24,639 And that you fly around a great deal. 383 00:20:24,723 --> 00:20:27,016 Well, that's true. 384 00:20:27,935 --> 00:20:28,893 Why? 385 00:20:28,977 --> 00:20:30,478 I like to keep busy. 386 00:20:31,146 --> 00:20:32,521 Why? 387 00:20:32,606 --> 00:20:35,149 I find it more interesting than keeping still. 388 00:20:36,235 --> 00:20:38,152 You know, you have very sad eyes. 389 00:20:38,862 --> 00:20:40,655 Do I? Mmm. 390 00:20:40,739 --> 00:20:42,740 Has anyone told you that before? 391 00:20:43,283 --> 00:20:44,533 No. 392 00:20:44,618 --> 00:20:46,285 Are you a sad person? 393 00:20:50,165 --> 00:20:52,708 Let's talk about you a little bit. 394 00:20:52,793 --> 00:20:55,253 Of course, you feel more comfortable asking questions. 395 00:20:55,337 --> 00:20:57,296 How right you are! 396 00:20:57,631 --> 00:20:59,340 This is your captain speaking. 397 00:20:59,424 --> 00:21:00,424 You may have noticed we've begun 398 00:21:00,509 --> 00:21:02,635 our final descent into Los Angeles. 399 00:21:03,512 --> 00:21:06,597 If you could please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts, 400 00:21:06,682 --> 00:21:08,724 we'll be landing very shortly. Thank you. 401 00:21:08,809 --> 00:21:11,102 So how about you? Where are you going? 402 00:21:11,186 --> 00:21:13,521 To meet Richard Nixon. 403 00:21:13,605 --> 00:21:14,855 Really? 404 00:21:16,525 --> 00:21:19,318 You know, they say he has the most enormous head, 405 00:21:19,778 --> 00:21:21,320 but the sexiest voice. 406 00:21:21,405 --> 00:21:22,780 Where is he now? 407 00:21:23,031 --> 00:21:26,575 In some dark underground cave licking his wounds? 408 00:21:27,452 --> 00:21:30,204 Actually, no. In his rather smart beachside villa 409 00:21:30,289 --> 00:21:31,330 in California. 410 00:21:31,415 --> 00:21:34,125 Really? Richard Nixon in a beachside villa? 411 00:21:34,209 --> 00:21:35,793 How incongruous. 412 00:21:35,877 --> 00:21:37,878 You can come if you'd like. 413 00:21:38,380 --> 00:21:40,047 To meet Nixon? 414 00:21:40,757 --> 00:21:42,466 Why not? 415 00:21:43,844 --> 00:21:45,136 Are you sure? 416 00:21:48,181 --> 00:21:49,849 You know, I would love that. 417 00:21:49,933 --> 00:21:52,101 Cabin crew, please prepare for arrival. 418 00:21:52,185 --> 00:21:55,021 Well, I'll get my office to call you first thing in the morning 419 00:21:55,105 --> 00:21:57,648 and send a car with a phone. 420 00:21:57,733 --> 00:21:58,733 Oh. 421 00:22:01,194 --> 00:22:04,238 He did, too. Money no object. 422 00:22:04,323 --> 00:22:08,326 Everything glittered and was golden. 423 00:22:08,410 --> 00:22:09,827 Well, on the outside. 424 00:22:09,911 --> 00:22:12,747 Of course, what I didn't know was that in the meantime, 425 00:22:12,831 --> 00:22:14,999 he'd gone to all the major networks 426 00:22:15,083 --> 00:22:17,543 to try and get interest in the interviews. 427 00:22:18,086 --> 00:22:20,921 I'm sorry, David, but we have a policy 428 00:22:21,006 --> 00:22:23,424 of not paying for a news interview. 429 00:22:23,508 --> 00:22:26,677 Look, we love your work as an entertainer. 430 00:22:26,762 --> 00:22:27,845 That Guinness show? 431 00:22:27,929 --> 00:22:29,430 Love it. You're a funny guy. 432 00:22:29,514 --> 00:22:31,682 But an interview like this? 433 00:22:31,767 --> 00:22:34,685 You're asking us to pay a British talk show host 434 00:22:34,770 --> 00:22:36,979 to interview an American president 435 00:22:37,064 --> 00:22:40,691 with absolutely no editorial controls whatsoever in return? 436 00:22:40,776 --> 00:22:42,735 Well, you can't say it's not a fresh approach. 437 00:22:42,819 --> 00:22:44,570 I know you're very busy. 438 00:22:44,696 --> 00:22:46,614 I'm not gonna keep you from it. 439 00:22:47,282 --> 00:22:48,866 Thank you for coming in. 440 00:22:48,950 --> 00:22:51,035 I'm gonna have to get back to you. 441 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:53,954 Okay, thank you so much for your time. 442 00:22:54,039 --> 00:22:55,081 David, good luck. 443 00:22:55,165 --> 00:22:57,541 He never let on to anyone at the time, 444 00:22:57,626 --> 00:22:58,793 not even me. You know, that would have meant ... 445 00:22:59,711 --> 00:23:00,711 Thanks. 446 00:23:00,796 --> 00:23:04,340 ... admitting failure, and David doesn't do failure. 447 00:23:35,455 --> 00:23:37,373 There you are. 448 00:23:37,457 --> 00:23:39,959 See, you don't have to do a thing yourself. 449 00:23:59,271 --> 00:24:00,354 Well. 450 00:24:01,022 --> 00:24:02,148 You found it okay. 451 00:24:02,232 --> 00:24:03,357 Yes, thank you. 452 00:24:03,442 --> 00:24:04,608 Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Frost. 453 00:24:04,693 --> 00:24:05,776 And you, sir. 454 00:24:05,861 --> 00:24:07,361 May I present Caroline Cushing? 455 00:24:07,446 --> 00:24:08,487 Miss Cushing. 456 00:24:08,572 --> 00:24:10,656 Hello. Your house is very beautiful. 457 00:24:10,740 --> 00:24:11,907 Really. Very romantic. 458 00:24:11,992 --> 00:24:13,075 Well, thank you. 459 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:14,952 And my producer, John Birt. 460 00:24:15,036 --> 00:24:16,579 Nice to meet you. How do you do? 461 00:24:16,663 --> 00:24:20,082 This is Mr. Lazar, and this is Jack Brennan. 462 00:24:20,167 --> 00:24:22,460 Now, Miss Cushing, would you like to take a tour, 463 00:24:22,544 --> 00:24:24,837 you know, maybe stretch your legs after your long journey? 464 00:24:24,921 --> 00:24:27,590 Yes, please. I'd love that. Thank you. 465 00:24:28,633 --> 00:24:30,676 Come on in. This is my office. 466 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,889 Now, this is where Brezhnev and I had our summit. 467 00:24:34,973 --> 00:24:39,351 Yeah. Brezhnev was there, and Gromyko there, Dobrynin there. 468 00:24:40,020 --> 00:24:43,522 We talked for nine hours straight. 469 00:24:44,733 --> 00:24:48,194 After the meeting, as a souvenir of the visit, 470 00:24:48,278 --> 00:24:52,531 I remember that we had a Lincoln specially made. 471 00:24:52,616 --> 00:24:55,826 Dark blue, cherry wood, leather. 472 00:24:55,911 --> 00:24:58,537 Well, we got inside for the photographers, 473 00:24:58,622 --> 00:25:02,875 when the next thing you know, he steps on the gas. 474 00:25:02,959 --> 00:25:07,671 Now, the first rule of political life is 475 00:25:07,756 --> 00:25:12,176 you never let a president get behind the wheel of a car, ever. 476 00:25:12,260 --> 00:25:14,261 I mean, we're not used to doing anything 477 00:25:14,346 --> 00:25:16,305 for ourselves, let alone drive. 478 00:25:16,389 --> 00:25:19,558 And the Chairman, Jesus, the way he put his foot down, 479 00:25:19,643 --> 00:25:22,394 my guess is the last thing he drove was 480 00:25:22,479 --> 00:25:25,523 a tractor on some Ukrainian potato farm. 481 00:25:27,442 --> 00:25:28,984 He crashed into curbs. 482 00:25:29,069 --> 00:25:30,528 He went over speed bumps. 483 00:25:30,612 --> 00:25:33,531 He went twice around my whole estate. 484 00:25:33,615 --> 00:25:38,369 Finally, we ended up at some remote point on the coast, 485 00:25:38,453 --> 00:25:41,372 out there overlooking the sea. 486 00:25:41,456 --> 00:25:45,668 He turns off the gas, and he talks for two hours 487 00:25:45,752 --> 00:25:49,213 about his favorite subject, steel mills. 488 00:25:49,297 --> 00:25:52,049 He said, "Mr. President, most politicians 489 00:25:52,133 --> 00:25:54,802 "have tragedy in their early lives." 490 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,890 Well, I told him that I lost two brothers to tuberculosis. 491 00:25:59,975 --> 00:26:04,979 And he watched his father die from the cancer he caught in the steelworks. 492 00:26:05,897 --> 00:26:10,276 He was a sad man and a noble adversary. 493 00:26:10,944 --> 00:26:13,320 I wouldn't want to be a Russian leader. 494 00:26:13,822 --> 00:26:16,156 They never know when they're being taped. 495 00:26:21,788 --> 00:26:23,581 Okay, I guess that's it then, huh? 496 00:26:23,665 --> 00:26:25,457 Until March. I look forward to it. 497 00:26:25,542 --> 00:26:27,418 Well, thank you, Mr. President. So do I. 498 00:26:27,502 --> 00:26:29,086 You know, it's a funny thing that 499 00:26:29,170 --> 00:26:32,881 I've never been challenged to a duel before. 500 00:26:32,966 --> 00:26:34,216 I guess that's what this is. 501 00:26:34,301 --> 00:26:36,218 Yeah, well, not really. 502 00:26:37,304 --> 00:26:38,887 Of course it is. 503 00:26:41,016 --> 00:26:42,683 And I like that. 504 00:26:44,019 --> 00:26:47,938 No holds barred, eh? No holds barred. 505 00:26:51,818 --> 00:26:55,988 Mr. Frost, there's still the small matter of the ... 506 00:26:57,490 --> 00:26:58,741 Of course. 507 00:27:00,201 --> 00:27:02,661 I do beg your pardon. 508 00:27:12,964 --> 00:27:18,218 Right. $200,000. 509 00:27:18,595 --> 00:27:21,472 I do hope that isn't coming out of your own pocket. 510 00:27:21,556 --> 00:27:24,642 Well, believe me, sir, I wish my pockets were that deep. 511 00:27:25,644 --> 00:27:27,311 Made out in the name of? 512 00:27:27,395 --> 00:27:28,520 Irving Paul Lazar. 513 00:27:28,605 --> 00:27:30,439 Richard M. Nixon. 514 00:27:39,449 --> 00:27:40,574 Here you go. 515 00:27:41,910 --> 00:27:43,744 Okay, smile. 516 00:27:45,121 --> 00:27:48,374 There. Now you can put that in your apartment in New York, 517 00:27:48,458 --> 00:27:52,002 and all your liberal friends can use it as a dartboard. 518 00:27:52,087 --> 00:27:55,798 Well, actually, I'm living in Monte Carlo at the moment. 519 00:27:55,882 --> 00:27:57,257 Really? 520 00:27:57,342 --> 00:27:59,176 Yes. Goodbye, Mr. President. 521 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,639 Hey. Take my advice. 522 00:28:03,723 --> 00:28:05,265 You should marry that woman. 523 00:28:05,350 --> 00:28:08,560 Yes. Lovely, isn't she? 524 00:28:08,645 --> 00:28:11,605 More important than that, she comes from Monaco. 525 00:28:11,690 --> 00:28:13,732 They pay no taxes there. 526 00:28:15,026 --> 00:28:16,944 Bye-bye. Goodbye. 527 00:28:25,453 --> 00:28:27,079 I bet you it did. 528 00:28:27,163 --> 00:28:28,205 What? 529 00:28:28,289 --> 00:28:29,665 Come out of his own pocket. 530 00:28:29,749 --> 00:28:31,875 You know, he couldn't look me in the eye. 531 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:33,544 Well, I hear the networks aren't biting. 532 00:28:33,628 --> 00:28:35,713 Without the networks, the ad agencies don't want to know. 533 00:28:35,797 --> 00:28:37,047 So if you ask me, there's a good chance 534 00:28:37,132 --> 00:28:38,257 this whole thing may never happen. 535 00:28:38,341 --> 00:28:43,554 Really? So that meeting we just had might have cost him $200,000? 536 00:28:43,638 --> 00:28:44,722 Correct. 537 00:28:45,598 --> 00:28:49,059 Had I known that, I would have offered him a cup of tea. 538 00:28:49,519 --> 00:28:51,895 Say, did you notice his shoes? 539 00:28:51,980 --> 00:28:53,021 No. 540 00:28:53,106 --> 00:28:56,608 Italian. No laces. What do you think? 541 00:28:57,402 --> 00:28:59,778 My people tried to get me to wear a pair like that. 542 00:28:59,863 --> 00:29:02,448 I think a man's shoes should have laces, sir. 543 00:29:02,657 --> 00:29:03,657 You do? 544 00:29:03,742 --> 00:29:07,327 Yeah. Personally, I find those Italian shoes very effeminate. 545 00:29:08,830 --> 00:29:10,456 Yes, quite right. 546 00:29:13,334 --> 00:29:15,419 I'm sorry, David, but it's a no. 547 00:29:15,503 --> 00:29:17,254 Try to look at it from our point of view. 548 00:29:17,338 --> 00:29:20,257 Why would an American network hire a total outsider, 549 00:29:20,341 --> 00:29:23,594 and someone who's already had his own show canceled, incidentally? 550 00:29:23,678 --> 00:29:25,179 I see. Well, I'm sorry you feel this way. 551 00:29:25,263 --> 00:29:28,140 Obviously, I think you're making a terrible mistake. 552 00:29:30,727 --> 00:29:32,102 NBC. 553 00:29:33,521 --> 00:29:37,608 Well, that's the networks out, all of them. 554 00:29:39,194 --> 00:29:41,278 Well, that's the end of that, then. 555 00:29:46,451 --> 00:29:48,243 I'm sorry, David. 556 00:29:48,912 --> 00:29:50,704 Not so fast. 557 00:29:52,123 --> 00:29:54,625 Where's your adventurer's spirit? 558 00:29:54,709 --> 00:29:56,668 The idea is we pay for the program 559 00:29:56,753 --> 00:30:01,799 and syndicate it ourselves, completely bypassing the networks. 560 00:30:01,883 --> 00:30:04,468 Just imagine it, we'd be our own network for the night. 561 00:30:04,552 --> 00:30:06,428 - Hey, Bob. - How does that grab you? 562 00:30:06,513 --> 00:30:08,347 Hey, come on in. David's on the phone. 563 00:30:08,431 --> 00:30:10,265 No, never been done before. 564 00:30:10,350 --> 00:30:11,934 Historic stuff. 565 00:30:15,313 --> 00:30:18,398 Just think about it, okay? And call me back. 566 00:30:19,067 --> 00:30:20,526 Yeah? Yeah. 567 00:30:20,610 --> 00:30:23,654 David, I'd like you to meet Jim Reston and Bob Zelnick, 568 00:30:23,738 --> 00:30:24,905 our two prospective corner men. 569 00:30:24,989 --> 00:30:26,073 Delighted to meet you. 570 00:30:26,157 --> 00:30:27,950 Come on in. Make yourselves at home. 571 00:30:28,034 --> 00:30:29,326 Bob's been Washington correspondent 572 00:30:29,410 --> 00:30:30,702 for Public Radio for the past 10 years. 573 00:30:30,787 --> 00:30:32,996 Moving to ABC in the new year. 574 00:30:33,081 --> 00:30:34,373 The general feeling, David, 575 00:30:34,457 --> 00:30:38,252 is that I have been wasting my matinee idol looks on radio. 576 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:40,879 Jim here teaches at the University of North Carolina 577 00:30:40,964 --> 00:30:44,800 and is writing a book about the criminal dishonesty, corruption, 578 00:30:45,510 --> 00:30:47,928 paranoia and abuses of power of Richard Nixon. 579 00:30:48,012 --> 00:30:49,471 Second on the subject. 580 00:30:49,556 --> 00:30:50,597 Fourth. 581 00:30:50,682 --> 00:30:52,724 Well, delighted to have you both aboard. 582 00:30:52,809 --> 00:30:55,227 Actually, before I sign on, I would like to hear 583 00:30:55,311 --> 00:30:58,188 what you were hoping to achieve with this interview. 584 00:30:58,773 --> 00:31:00,774 What I want to achieve? 585 00:31:00,859 --> 00:31:02,109 Yeah. 586 00:31:02,610 --> 00:31:06,280 Jim, well, I've secured 12 taping days. 587 00:31:06,364 --> 00:31:08,282 That's close to 30 hours 588 00:31:08,366 --> 00:31:10,534 with the most compelling and controversial politician 589 00:31:10,618 --> 00:31:12,369 of our times. 590 00:31:12,453 --> 00:31:13,954 Isn't that enough? 591 00:31:15,832 --> 00:31:17,165 Well, not for me. 592 00:31:18,501 --> 00:31:21,837 Look, I'd be giving up a year of my life. I'm leaving my family 593 00:31:21,921 --> 00:31:24,548 to work on a subject matter that means more 594 00:31:24,632 --> 00:31:26,341 than you can probably imagine, 595 00:31:26,426 --> 00:31:27,509 and the idea of doing all that 596 00:31:27,594 --> 00:31:31,013 without achieving what I want to, personally, 597 00:31:31,097 --> 00:31:32,806 would be unthinkable to me. 598 00:31:32,932 --> 00:31:34,141 No, all right. 599 00:31:34,893 --> 00:31:37,603 Well, what is it that you want to achieve? 600 00:31:43,234 --> 00:31:46,194 I'd like to give Richard Nixon the trial he never had. 601 00:31:46,279 --> 00:31:49,531 Of course, we'll be asking difficult questions. 602 00:31:49,616 --> 00:31:51,283 Difficult questions. 603 00:31:52,201 --> 00:31:54,411 The man lost 21,000 Americans 604 00:31:54,495 --> 00:31:56,914 and a million Indo-Chinese during his administration. 605 00:31:56,998 --> 00:31:59,750 He only escaped jail because of Ford's pardon. 606 00:31:59,834 --> 00:32:03,128 Yes, but equally, going after him in some knee-jerk way, 607 00:32:03,212 --> 00:32:06,757 you know, assuming he's a terrible guy, 608 00:32:06,841 --> 00:32:10,510 wouldn't that only create more sympathy for him than anything else? 609 00:32:10,595 --> 00:32:12,054 You know ... 610 00:32:14,265 --> 00:32:16,058 Right now, I submit it's impossible 611 00:32:16,142 --> 00:32:19,603 to feel anything close to sympathy for Richard Nixon. 612 00:32:19,687 --> 00:32:21,813 He devalued the presidency, 613 00:32:21,898 --> 00:32:25,525 and he left the country that elected him in trauma. 614 00:32:26,653 --> 00:32:30,322 The American people need a conviction, pure and simple. 615 00:32:30,406 --> 00:32:33,116 The integrity of our political system, 616 00:32:33,201 --> 00:32:38,997 of democracy as an idea, entirely depends on it. 617 00:32:39,082 --> 00:32:41,375 And if in years to come, people look back 618 00:32:41,459 --> 00:32:42,834 and say it was in this interview 619 00:32:42,919 --> 00:32:44,503 that Richard Nixon exonerated himself, 620 00:32:44,587 --> 00:32:46,797 that would be the worst crime of all. 621 00:32:56,516 --> 00:32:59,559 Did you know that Mike Wallace is doing a piece on this? 622 00:33:01,521 --> 00:33:04,189 And that in the bars around Capitol Hill and Georgetown 623 00:33:04,273 --> 00:33:06,024 this entire project is a joke? 624 00:33:06,109 --> 00:33:08,777 Come on. Jim, come on. 625 00:33:08,861 --> 00:33:11,196 Thanks for that, Jim. 626 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,574 Could you give us a couple of minutes? 627 00:33:21,791 --> 00:33:23,291 You're unbelievable. I'm sorry, Bob. 628 00:33:23,376 --> 00:33:25,585 You know, Jim, I went way out on a limb for you. 629 00:33:25,670 --> 00:33:27,254 I mean, some of us actually want this job. 630 00:33:27,338 --> 00:33:28,839 I want it, too, if it's done right. 631 00:33:28,923 --> 00:33:30,674 Well, how do you know they're not gonna do it right? 632 00:33:30,758 --> 00:33:32,009 Little Lord Fauntleroy in there? 633 00:33:32,093 --> 00:33:33,260 Sympathy for Richard Nixon? 634 00:33:33,344 --> 00:33:34,970 What the ... He's full of shit, man ! 635 00:33:35,054 --> 00:33:36,596 How do you know that? 636 00:33:38,766 --> 00:33:41,768 Is Mike Wallace doing a piece on this? 637 00:33:43,021 --> 00:33:44,021 Apparently. 638 00:33:44,105 --> 00:33:45,772 Why didn't you tell me? 639 00:33:46,482 --> 00:33:47,899 It isn't relevant. 640 00:33:48,985 --> 00:33:52,738 What's the angle? "British talk show host, 641 00:33:53,489 --> 00:33:57,242 "good with actresses, not so good with stonewalling presidents." 642 00:33:57,535 --> 00:33:59,327 That's the general idea, yeah. 643 00:33:59,412 --> 00:34:00,620 Right. 644 00:34:01,831 --> 00:34:04,583 It's hard not to feel a little insulted by that. 645 00:34:06,294 --> 00:34:08,712 Well, Bob's obviously a pro. 646 00:34:08,796 --> 00:34:10,005 What are we gonna do about Reston? 647 00:34:10,089 --> 00:34:11,631 Well, the man's an idiot. He's overemotional. 648 00:34:11,716 --> 00:34:12,966 Send him home. 649 00:34:14,385 --> 00:34:16,344 Well, I think he should stay. Why? 650 00:34:16,429 --> 00:34:19,723 I liked his passion. 651 00:34:19,807 --> 00:34:21,808 He will drive us all bloody mad. 652 00:34:22,310 --> 00:34:25,062 Well, maybe, but sometimes being out of your comfort zone 653 00:34:25,146 --> 00:34:27,814 is a good thing, I'm told. 654 00:34:28,816 --> 00:34:30,108 He stays. 655 00:34:40,703 --> 00:34:44,831 I took my seat next to Mrs. Mao at the banquet table. 656 00:34:45,458 --> 00:34:50,170 Now, one of the challenges of life as a president 657 00:34:50,838 --> 00:34:57,803 is the endless round of cocktail parties, social engagements, banquets. 658 00:34:58,513 --> 00:35:00,514 And people who know me would tell you 659 00:35:00,598 --> 00:35:04,851 that small talk is not one of my strong suits, either. No. 660 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:08,605 Particularly not in Mandarin. 661 00:35:11,609 --> 00:35:16,613 So Mrs. Mao and I, we just, well, you know, stared at one another. 662 00:35:17,740 --> 00:35:22,035 And then across the table, Mrs. Nixon and Chairman Mao himself, well, 663 00:35:22,870 --> 00:35:25,247 they stared at one another, too. 664 00:35:25,331 --> 00:35:28,166 And then further down, Dr. Kissinger 665 00:35:28,251 --> 00:35:31,086 and their foreign minister, well, 666 00:35:31,587 --> 00:35:34,631 you're getting the picture now. 667 00:35:39,303 --> 00:35:41,263 I can't stand it, Jack! 668 00:35:42,557 --> 00:35:47,727 Reducing the presidency to a series of banal anecdotes. 669 00:35:47,895 --> 00:35:50,730 I feel like a circus animal doing tricks. 670 00:35:50,940 --> 00:35:52,691 And I thought I made it clear! 671 00:35:52,775 --> 00:35:57,320 I didn't want to take any questions on Watergate, damn it! 672 00:35:58,739 --> 00:36:01,116 Soon as it came to question time, 673 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:05,829 all those sons of bitches ever want to hear about is Watergate! 674 00:36:05,913 --> 00:36:10,375 It's as if all my other achievements have ceased to exist. 675 00:36:10,459 --> 00:36:11,710 Well, sir, you're gonna get a chance 676 00:36:11,794 --> 00:36:13,086 to talk about them sooner than you think. 677 00:36:13,171 --> 00:36:14,838 Yeah? How? 678 00:36:14,922 --> 00:36:17,299 Frost got there. He got the money. 679 00:36:18,593 --> 00:36:20,010 What? 680 00:36:20,094 --> 00:36:21,511 I understand most of it's borrowed, 681 00:36:21,596 --> 00:36:23,346 that his friends have bailed him out. 682 00:36:23,431 --> 00:36:25,640 But the point is, we start taping at the end of March. 683 00:36:25,725 --> 00:36:28,435 Really? Now, that's terrific. 684 00:36:28,519 --> 00:36:30,270 How much time is devoted to Watergate? 685 00:36:30,354 --> 00:36:33,190 25%. Just one of four 90-minute shows. 686 00:36:33,274 --> 00:36:35,275 What are the other three divided into? 687 00:36:35,359 --> 00:36:37,360 Domestic Affairs, Foreign Policy, 688 00:36:37,445 --> 00:36:38,528 and Nixon the Man. 689 00:36:38,613 --> 00:36:39,571 "Nixon the Man"? 690 00:36:39,655 --> 00:36:41,823 As opposed to what? Nixon the horse? 691 00:36:41,908 --> 00:36:45,076 Well, I imagine it's some kind of biographical piece. 692 00:36:46,495 --> 00:36:50,999 I can see it now. The father that neglected me, the brothers that died. 693 00:36:51,083 --> 00:36:53,126 Spare me. 694 00:36:53,211 --> 00:36:58,256 Still, now, the fact it's come together, now, that's a good thing, no? 695 00:36:58,341 --> 00:37:01,551 Mr. President, it's fantastic. 696 00:37:01,636 --> 00:37:03,929 Frost is just not in your intellectual class, sir. 697 00:37:04,013 --> 00:37:07,474 You're gonna be able to dictate terms, rebuild your reputation. 698 00:37:07,558 --> 00:37:12,479 If this went well, if enough people saw it, revised their opinion, 699 00:37:12,563 --> 00:37:15,815 you could move back East way, way earlier than we expected. 700 00:37:15,900 --> 00:37:17,776 You think? I'm certain. 701 00:37:19,278 --> 00:37:25,367 It would be so good to go back to where the action is. 702 00:37:25,451 --> 00:37:26,743 You know? 703 00:37:26,827 --> 00:37:30,330 The hunger in my belly is still there, Jack. 704 00:37:33,251 --> 00:37:36,336 I guess it all boils down to Watergate, huh? 705 00:37:36,420 --> 00:37:39,089 Well, that's nothing to worry about, sir. 706 00:37:39,173 --> 00:37:41,883 It's not as if there's gonna be any revelations. 707 00:37:41,968 --> 00:37:44,678 That stuff's been combed over a million times. 708 00:37:44,762 --> 00:37:47,055 No one has pinned anything on you. 709 00:37:47,139 --> 00:37:49,599 Yeah, still, it's been a while 710 00:37:49,684 --> 00:37:51,184 since I spoke about it on the record. 711 00:37:51,269 --> 00:37:53,019 I'm gonna start doing my homework. 712 00:37:53,104 --> 00:37:55,855 Hey, you know what would be an interesting thing to find out? 713 00:37:55,940 --> 00:37:57,023 What his strategy is. 714 00:37:57,108 --> 00:37:58,149 Now, where's he staying? 715 00:37:58,234 --> 00:37:59,776 I believe The Beverly Hilton. 716 00:37:59,860 --> 00:38:01,361 The Beverly Hilton, you say. 717 00:38:01,445 --> 00:38:03,863 Well, I got the numbers someplace 718 00:38:03,948 --> 00:38:06,324 of some fellows that we could send in. 719 00:38:06,409 --> 00:38:09,035 Cubans with CIA training. 720 00:38:17,503 --> 00:38:19,421 Jesus, Jack, it was a joke. 721 00:38:20,923 --> 00:38:22,340 Yes, sir. 722 00:38:26,178 --> 00:38:28,179 A week later, we said goodbye to our families, 723 00:38:28,264 --> 00:38:31,349 we hopped on a plane, and we moved into The Beverly Hilton. 724 00:38:31,434 --> 00:38:33,435 And that's where we started to dig into our research 725 00:38:33,519 --> 00:38:36,062 and prepare for the interviews. 726 00:38:37,023 --> 00:38:38,189 Yeah, as it happens, we took 727 00:38:38,274 --> 00:38:40,442 the whole question of security very seriously. 728 00:38:42,820 --> 00:38:46,239 And from day one, we kept all our files in a Iocked safe. 729 00:38:49,952 --> 00:38:53,163 Who was the guy that Mike interviewed? Was that Haldeman? 730 00:38:53,289 --> 00:38:54,873 - Haldeman. - Haldeman. And Ehrlichman, too. 731 00:38:54,957 --> 00:38:57,459 I always get the Germans mixed up. 732 00:38:57,543 --> 00:39:00,128 I'm a little confused by that. 733 00:39:00,212 --> 00:39:02,964 What is Haldeman's official ... Hello, darling. 734 00:39:03,591 --> 00:39:06,718 As for the work over the months, we divided it into three sections. 735 00:39:06,802 --> 00:39:10,347 Birt took Vietnam, Bob took Foreign and Domestic Policy, 736 00:39:10,431 --> 00:39:13,600 and I got Watergate and the abuses of power. 737 00:39:13,768 --> 00:39:16,561 And David, we never really saw much of David. 738 00:39:16,645 --> 00:39:18,146 All right, so what about the Huston Plan? 739 00:39:18,230 --> 00:39:20,023 You can see the seeds of dirty tricks. 740 00:39:20,107 --> 00:39:23,526 Essentially, it's an attempt to legalize dirty tricks. 741 00:39:23,611 --> 00:39:25,695 That's why you gotta get David to put it in the question. 742 00:39:25,780 --> 00:39:26,863 Wiretapping students. 743 00:39:26,947 --> 00:39:28,365 But they've traced the money to him. 744 00:39:28,449 --> 00:39:29,991 Opening people's mail. 745 00:39:30,076 --> 00:39:31,076 What about wiretapping? 746 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:32,160 How many people has he wiretapped? 747 00:39:32,244 --> 00:39:34,496 This guy wiretapped 17 people. 748 00:39:34,580 --> 00:39:35,622 Seventeen? 749 00:39:35,706 --> 00:39:36,706 Including his own brother. 750 00:39:36,791 --> 00:39:38,708 But you know what? We can't ask him about his brother, 751 00:39:38,793 --> 00:39:41,544 'cause frankly, if Donald Nixon was my brother, 752 00:39:41,629 --> 00:39:43,755 I'd wiretap him, too. 753 00:39:44,965 --> 00:39:48,134 But wait, okay, so we have breaking and entering. 754 00:39:48,386 --> 00:39:51,846 We have wiretapping, conspiracy to foster prostitution. 755 00:39:51,931 --> 00:39:53,181 And that's Liddy, right? 756 00:39:53,265 --> 00:39:55,517 Delivery courtesy of Nate 'n Al's 757 00:39:55,643 --> 00:39:57,310 finest deli selection. 758 00:39:57,395 --> 00:39:59,896 We're going to need napkins. We'd better have some napkins. 759 00:39:59,980 --> 00:40:01,856 How do we frame a question about Cambodia, 760 00:40:01,941 --> 00:40:02,941 about the illicit bombing of Cambodia? 761 00:40:03,025 --> 00:40:04,025 I think you should say, 762 00:40:04,110 --> 00:40:05,735 "How far do you take executive privilege 763 00:40:05,820 --> 00:40:07,445 "before it becomes an undemocratic event?" 764 00:40:07,530 --> 00:40:09,781 I think you frame the question to him as a Quaker. 765 00:40:09,865 --> 00:40:13,576 "How do you feel as a Quaker about annihilating an entire people?" 766 00:40:17,081 --> 00:40:19,666 Come on. Are they really interested in buying time? 767 00:40:19,750 --> 00:40:21,334 Are they going to give us the money? 768 00:40:21,419 --> 00:40:22,919 How serious are they? 769 00:40:23,003 --> 00:40:26,506 You have to set up that he has an anti-democratic personality. 770 00:40:26,590 --> 00:40:28,258 There's a reason they call him Tricky Dick. 771 00:40:28,342 --> 00:40:31,845 Because I had written about and watched Nixon for years, 772 00:40:31,929 --> 00:40:34,055 I got to play him in our rehearsals. 773 00:40:34,140 --> 00:40:36,182 You know, the fellas would throw me a question, 774 00:40:36,267 --> 00:40:39,144 and I would try and anticipate what his response might be. 775 00:40:39,228 --> 00:40:41,271 Okay, the White House taping system. 776 00:40:41,355 --> 00:40:44,649 Ours is not the first administration to use taping systems. 777 00:40:44,733 --> 00:40:46,568 Lyndon Johnson's White House used them. So did Kennedy's. 778 00:40:46,652 --> 00:40:49,279 Huston Plan. Wiretapping and alleged abuses of power. 779 00:40:49,363 --> 00:40:53,199 Let me tell you, other administrations were up to far worse. 780 00:40:53,451 --> 00:40:56,619 And just for fun, your close friend Jack Kennedy. 781 00:40:57,288 --> 00:40:59,873 That man, he screwed anything that moved, 782 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:02,625 fixed elections and took us into Vietnam. 783 00:41:02,710 --> 00:41:05,003 And the American people, they loved him for it! 784 00:41:05,087 --> 00:41:08,006 Whereas I, Richard Milhous Nixon, 785 00:41:08,090 --> 00:41:12,010 worked around the clock in their service, and they hated me! 786 00:41:12,470 --> 00:41:16,431 Look. Look. Now I'm sweating. 787 00:41:16,515 --> 00:41:18,933 Damn it! Damn it! 788 00:41:19,018 --> 00:41:22,103 And Kennedy's so goddamn handsome and blue-eyed ! 789 00:41:22,188 --> 00:41:23,646 And women all over him ! 790 00:41:23,731 --> 00:41:26,024 He screwed anything that moved, and everything. 791 00:41:26,108 --> 00:41:27,358 Had a go at Checkers once. 792 00:41:27,443 --> 00:41:29,861 The poor little bitch was never the same! 793 00:41:31,697 --> 00:41:35,617 Gentlemen, finally a friend in the American press. 794 00:41:35,701 --> 00:41:38,328 Jack Anderson in The Washington Post, 795 00:41:38,412 --> 00:41:40,788 "When Richard Nixon faces the television cameras 796 00:41:40,873 --> 00:41:43,625 "for his first interview since he abandoned the White House, 797 00:41:43,709 --> 00:41:47,086 "he'll be cross-examined as if he were on the witness stand. 798 00:41:47,171 --> 00:41:50,381 "Frost has hired three crack investigators 799 00:41:50,466 --> 00:41:52,133 "to help him with the research. 800 00:41:52,218 --> 00:41:55,428 "Clearly the famous TV interviewer will pull no punches." 801 00:41:55,513 --> 00:41:56,930 "Crack investigators"? 802 00:41:57,014 --> 00:41:58,056 Can I be Crack One? 803 00:41:58,140 --> 00:41:59,599 Can I be Deep Crack? 804 00:42:01,769 --> 00:42:03,645 David, can I talk to you for a sec? 805 00:42:03,729 --> 00:42:05,104 After researching my last book, 806 00:42:05,189 --> 00:42:06,523 I was pretty certain Colson ... 807 00:42:06,607 --> 00:42:08,858 You know, Charles Colson? His darkest henchman? 808 00:42:08,984 --> 00:42:10,276 Colson, right. Colson had a meeting with Nixon 809 00:42:11,445 --> 00:42:12,570 sometime before June 23, 810 00:42:12,655 --> 00:42:14,072 but I never knew the exact date, 811 00:42:14,156 --> 00:42:15,865 so I couldn't find the transcript. 812 00:42:15,950 --> 00:42:18,117 But if you gave me a week back in the Federal Courthouse library ... 813 00:42:18,202 --> 00:42:21,871 A week? Goodness, Jim, we can't lose you for that long. 814 00:42:21,956 --> 00:42:23,331 I think this is really good stuff, Dave. 815 00:42:23,415 --> 00:42:25,375 Would there be something I could help you with? 816 00:42:25,459 --> 00:42:27,877 You know, if we're gonna nail Nixon in these interviews, 817 00:42:27,962 --> 00:42:29,379 we're gonna have to ambush him. 818 00:42:29,463 --> 00:42:30,797 We're gonna have to take him by surprise. 819 00:42:30,881 --> 00:42:33,049 Don't worry, Jim. We'll get him anyway. 820 00:42:33,133 --> 00:42:35,718 Hang on a second. David, Jack Brennan. 821 00:42:35,803 --> 00:42:37,262 He sounds a little emotional. 822 00:42:37,346 --> 00:42:38,805 I'll take it in here. 823 00:42:38,889 --> 00:42:40,807 He'll be right with you. Yeah. 824 00:42:44,019 --> 00:42:45,603 Jack. Watergate. 825 00:42:45,688 --> 00:42:46,771 Yes, Jack. 826 00:42:46,855 --> 00:42:50,441 Our lawyers want us to agree on a definition of the word. 827 00:42:50,526 --> 00:42:52,402 Well, I believe it's a large hotel 828 00:42:52,486 --> 00:42:54,571 and office complex in Washington, Jack. 829 00:42:54,655 --> 00:42:55,738 You know what I'm talking about. 830 00:42:55,823 --> 00:42:57,282 For the interviews. 831 00:42:57,491 --> 00:42:59,409 We want to propose that Watergate 832 00:42:59,493 --> 00:43:01,995 be an umbrella term for everything negative. 833 00:43:03,914 --> 00:43:05,290 Hold on a minute. 834 00:43:09,253 --> 00:43:11,963 So all the other domestic charges 835 00:43:12,047 --> 00:43:13,423 against him, the Brookings Institute, 836 00:43:13,507 --> 00:43:15,592 the Plumbers Union, the Enemies List, 837 00:43:15,676 --> 00:43:18,177 you're saying all that goes into Watergate? 838 00:43:18,929 --> 00:43:20,513 Correct. 839 00:43:20,598 --> 00:43:23,099 That is absurd and a clear breach 840 00:43:23,183 --> 00:43:25,184 of the terms of our agreement. 841 00:43:25,269 --> 00:43:28,313 Okay. How would you define Watergate? 842 00:43:28,397 --> 00:43:29,606 Well, that it covers just that. 843 00:43:29,690 --> 00:43:31,441 The Watergate break-in of June 17th 844 00:43:31,525 --> 00:43:33,818 and the subsequent cover-up and investigation. 845 00:43:33,902 --> 00:43:35,612 Fine. In which case, the deal is off. 846 00:43:35,696 --> 00:43:39,198 Fine. In which case, you can expect a lawsuit 847 00:43:39,325 --> 00:43:41,451 for something in excess of $20 million 848 00:43:41,535 --> 00:43:43,578 in damages and loss of earnings. 849 00:43:43,662 --> 00:43:46,497 The terms of the contract clearly stipulate 850 00:43:46,582 --> 00:43:50,209 that Watergate take up no more than 25% of the time. 851 00:43:50,294 --> 00:43:53,171 Yes, but nowhere does it say that for the rest of the 75% 852 00:43:53,255 --> 00:43:55,757 he gets to drone on and sound presidential. 853 00:43:57,384 --> 00:44:01,596 "Drone on"? Jesus Christ. Where's your respect? 854 00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:04,474 You remember who you're talking about here. 855 00:44:04,558 --> 00:44:08,269 You know as well as I do that 60% of what he did in office was right, 856 00:44:08,354 --> 00:44:12,190 and 30% may have been wrong, but he thought it was right at the time. 857 00:44:12,274 --> 00:44:14,192 Yes, but that still leaves 10% 858 00:44:14,276 --> 00:44:16,694 where he was doing the wrong thing and knew it. 859 00:44:17,946 --> 00:44:21,532 You goddamn media people. You are so smug. 860 00:44:22,242 --> 00:44:25,787 Well, I can guarantee you if you screw us on the 60%, 861 00:44:25,871 --> 00:44:29,415 I will ruin you if it takes the rest of my life. 862 00:44:31,752 --> 00:44:32,752 Prick. 863 00:44:52,231 --> 00:44:53,940 Look at you. Gorgeous. 864 00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:57,610 Good night, sweet princes. 865 00:44:57,695 --> 00:44:59,320 Cheerio. Bye. 866 00:44:59,405 --> 00:45:01,614 See you in the morning. 867 00:45:04,159 --> 00:45:06,244 Why the monkey suit? 868 00:45:06,328 --> 00:45:08,287 David has a film premiere he needs to attend. 869 00:45:08,372 --> 00:45:10,873 What? The night before we start taping? 870 00:45:10,958 --> 00:45:12,625 What's the movie? 871 00:45:14,169 --> 00:45:16,587 It's The Slipper and the Rose. 872 00:45:17,923 --> 00:45:19,132 The Cinderella movie? 873 00:45:19,216 --> 00:45:21,426 Yeah. David's the executive producer. 874 00:45:21,885 --> 00:45:24,053 You don't think it might be an idea for our interviewer 875 00:45:24,138 --> 00:45:26,389 to be rested and focused on the job in hand? 876 00:45:26,473 --> 00:45:28,099 Don't worry. 877 00:45:28,183 --> 00:45:30,601 David is a performer of the highest caliber. 878 00:45:30,686 --> 00:45:33,146 He's been in these pressure situations many times before. 879 00:45:33,230 --> 00:45:36,441 Come the hour, he'll be fine. Okay? 880 00:45:41,822 --> 00:45:43,740 What did he say? Did he say "performer"? 881 00:45:43,824 --> 00:45:45,616 Yeah. That's the word he used? 882 00:45:45,701 --> 00:45:46,909 Yeah, he said "performer." 883 00:45:46,994 --> 00:45:48,119 Not "journalist" or "interviewer"? 884 00:45:48,203 --> 00:45:51,289 No. He said "performer." 885 00:45:51,373 --> 00:45:55,501 Out of curiosity, where are you at this moment? Psychically? 886 00:45:57,588 --> 00:46:02,300 I am imagining the dust, the darkness, 887 00:46:02,384 --> 00:46:05,928 the agony and the unimaginable loneliness 888 00:46:06,013 --> 00:46:09,098 of the wilderness I am about to be dispatched to 889 00:46:09,183 --> 00:46:11,934 by my Washington political colleagues. 890 00:46:23,030 --> 00:46:25,907 So any opportunity you get, go right to foreign policy, go right to Mao, 891 00:46:25,991 --> 00:46:27,200 go right to Khrushchev. 892 00:46:27,284 --> 00:46:28,451 Just go right! 893 00:46:28,535 --> 00:46:30,286 You could do all day on foreign policy, sir. 894 00:46:30,370 --> 00:46:31,954 I disagree that the Mao banquet story is stale. 895 00:46:32,039 --> 00:46:33,539 Excuse me, sir. Something I think you should see. 896 00:46:33,624 --> 00:46:34,665 People love that story. 897 00:46:34,750 --> 00:46:35,792 Why don't we save it for the book? 898 00:46:35,876 --> 00:46:37,877 Yeah, right, come on. 899 00:46:40,047 --> 00:46:41,631 - David. - Mr. Frost. 900 00:46:41,715 --> 00:46:43,758 David, some people in the media have suggested 901 00:46:43,842 --> 00:46:45,593 that you're not the right man for the job, 902 00:46:45,677 --> 00:46:47,386 that you'll be too soft on the President. 903 00:46:47,471 --> 00:46:49,305 What will you do if he stonewalls you? 904 00:46:49,389 --> 00:46:51,098 Well, I shall say so again and again. 905 00:46:51,183 --> 00:46:53,643 But I should say right now that I'm not expecting 906 00:46:53,727 --> 00:46:56,604 his approach to be to stonewall. 907 00:46:56,688 --> 00:47:00,316 I'm hoping that it'll be that of a cascade of candor. 908 00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:02,068 "A cascade of candor"? 909 00:47:02,152 --> 00:47:03,778 From Richard Nixon? 910 00:47:03,862 --> 00:47:05,863 You think that's what you'll get? 911 00:47:05,948 --> 00:47:09,200 No, I just thought it was a phrase that might appeal to you. 912 00:47:09,284 --> 00:47:10,827 So what about the money? 913 00:47:10,911 --> 00:47:12,620 That's a strange fellow. 914 00:47:12,704 --> 00:47:14,664 Started life as a comic, you know. 915 00:47:14,748 --> 00:47:15,873 Is that so? Mmm-hmm. 916 00:47:15,958 --> 00:47:17,834 Almost married Diahann Carroll. 917 00:47:17,918 --> 00:47:18,876 Who? 918 00:47:18,961 --> 00:47:20,711 The singer. 919 00:47:22,172 --> 00:47:23,756 Isn't she black? 920 00:47:25,217 --> 00:47:26,551 Yes, sir. 921 00:47:27,594 --> 00:47:30,137 Right here in the Frost file, which we put together 922 00:47:30,222 --> 00:47:32,849 as part of our general preparations. 923 00:47:32,933 --> 00:47:36,519 Okay. Let's get back to work. 924 00:47:36,603 --> 00:47:38,855 That's fact, this is fiction. 925 00:47:38,939 --> 00:47:40,690 So now it's about The Slipper and the Rose. 926 00:47:40,774 --> 00:47:42,108 It's a cracker of a movie. 927 00:47:42,192 --> 00:47:44,068 I hope you'll all come and see it, and ... 928 00:47:51,535 --> 00:47:53,286 I shouldn't have ordered that coffee. 929 00:47:53,370 --> 00:47:55,079 Just don't drink any more. 930 00:48:00,919 --> 00:48:02,628 Good luck. Thank you. 931 00:48:04,882 --> 00:48:06,883 I'll be thinking of you. 932 00:48:11,763 --> 00:48:13,306 Dick. Wait. 933 00:48:28,822 --> 00:48:31,574 For the record, I'm gonna be starting with John's idea. 934 00:48:31,658 --> 00:48:33,409 "Why didn't you burn the tapes?" 935 00:48:33,493 --> 00:48:34,744 No. Fuck. 936 00:48:34,828 --> 00:48:37,538 Please, God, no! You can't. 937 00:48:37,623 --> 00:48:40,249 David, you can't do that. It would be a disaster. 938 00:48:40,334 --> 00:48:43,419 It would get us into Watergate way ahead of the agreed time. 939 00:48:43,503 --> 00:48:46,172 What is the point of having contractually set 940 00:48:46,256 --> 00:48:48,424 specific times to deal with certain subjects 941 00:48:48,508 --> 00:48:50,134 if you're just going to ignore it right off the bat? 942 00:48:50,218 --> 00:48:51,427 'Cause it's war, isn't it? Gloves off. 943 00:48:51,511 --> 00:48:52,720 I like it. It's ballsy. 944 00:48:52,804 --> 00:48:54,013 Strategically, it'll give us the upper hand. 945 00:48:54,097 --> 00:48:56,140 It's insanely risky. 946 00:48:56,224 --> 00:48:57,642 He could walk right off the set, 947 00:48:57,726 --> 00:48:59,101 and there's nothing we could do about it. 948 00:48:59,186 --> 00:49:00,937 Worse, he could sue you ! 949 00:49:01,021 --> 00:49:03,689 We were sadly unable to do the taping at Casa Pacifica 950 00:49:03,774 --> 00:49:06,067 because of the Coast Guard radio interference, 951 00:49:06,151 --> 00:49:09,153 so we ended up at the rather more modest Smith house, 952 00:49:09,237 --> 00:49:11,739 which was owned by a local Republican businessman. 953 00:49:12,908 --> 00:49:14,450 Right here! 954 00:49:14,534 --> 00:49:15,743 Mr. Frost, look over here. 955 00:49:15,827 --> 00:49:17,036 Over here, sir! 956 00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:18,287 Here we go. - Back up behind the curb. 957 00:49:18,372 --> 00:49:19,497 A few questions, please. 958 00:49:19,581 --> 00:49:20,665 Right here, Mr. Frost. 959 00:49:20,749 --> 00:49:23,042 David ! David ! David ! 960 00:49:28,423 --> 00:49:29,882 Well, hello there. 961 00:49:34,054 --> 00:49:35,429 Excuse me, fellas. 962 00:49:51,238 --> 00:49:53,781 Nixon, there's blood on your hands! 963 00:49:54,157 --> 00:49:55,324 Liar! 964 00:50:04,751 --> 00:50:06,794 Here comes the President! 965 00:50:06,878 --> 00:50:08,170 Mr. President! 966 00:50:08,255 --> 00:50:10,006 Mr. President! 967 00:50:11,049 --> 00:50:13,134 How are you feeling, Mr. President? 968 00:50:15,262 --> 00:50:17,680 The Smith family requested that the furniture be put back in place. 969 00:50:17,764 --> 00:50:19,390 They talked to you about that, too? 970 00:50:19,474 --> 00:50:21,267 They're bugging everybody. 971 00:50:26,273 --> 00:50:28,024 You know, I've written four books about him, 972 00:50:28,108 --> 00:50:30,776 but this is the first time I've actually seen him in the flesh. 973 00:50:30,861 --> 00:50:33,946 He's taller than I imagined, and tanned. 974 00:50:34,072 --> 00:50:36,323 The least he could do is look ravaged. 975 00:50:38,869 --> 00:50:40,036 You gonna shake his hand? 976 00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:41,287 Am I gonna shake ... 977 00:50:41,371 --> 00:50:42,663 Are you kidding me? 978 00:50:42,748 --> 00:50:44,373 After everything that prick's done to this country? 979 00:50:44,458 --> 00:50:45,750 I'm not gonna shake his hand. 980 00:50:45,834 --> 00:50:47,376 Gentlemen. 981 00:50:47,711 --> 00:50:51,756 May I present Bob Zelnick, my executive editor? 982 00:50:51,840 --> 00:50:53,174 How do you do? 983 00:50:53,258 --> 00:50:54,550 Pleasure, Mr. President. 984 00:50:54,634 --> 00:50:57,428 And Jim Reston, one of my researchers. 985 00:50:57,512 --> 00:50:59,764 Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Reston. 986 00:51:03,101 --> 00:51:04,560 Mr. President. 987 00:51:04,644 --> 00:51:07,313 Excuse me, sir? Got a room for you right here. 988 00:51:11,777 --> 00:51:15,029 Wow. That was devastating, withering. 989 00:51:15,113 --> 00:51:16,572 I mean, I don't think he's ever gonna get over that. 990 00:51:16,656 --> 00:51:17,865 Yeah, fuck off. 991 00:51:19,451 --> 00:51:22,244 I got you guys set up back here. 992 00:51:22,329 --> 00:51:26,248 Now this is your green room. 993 00:51:26,333 --> 00:51:28,793 And the President will be on the large monitor. 994 00:51:28,877 --> 00:51:30,586 Craft services is that way. 995 00:51:39,387 --> 00:51:40,805 Keep it about that temperature, okay? 996 00:51:40,889 --> 00:51:41,889 Mr. President? 997 00:51:41,973 --> 00:51:42,973 Yeah. 998 00:51:43,058 --> 00:51:44,433 Before we start, I just want to say 999 00:51:44,518 --> 00:51:47,603 how delighted we all are by Mrs. Nixon's recovery. 1000 00:51:47,687 --> 00:51:49,563 Well, thank you. It's true. 1001 00:51:49,648 --> 00:51:51,607 She's much better now. 1002 00:51:51,691 --> 00:51:56,237 She's just getting round to the business of replying to all the cards. 1003 00:51:57,030 --> 00:51:59,532 And from our point of view, well, 1004 00:51:59,616 --> 00:52:02,284 I'd just like to say how pleased we are 1005 00:52:02,369 --> 00:52:03,786 that you got this all together. 1006 00:52:03,870 --> 00:52:04,912 Thank you. 1007 00:52:04,996 --> 00:52:08,124 As I understand it, it's been quite a struggle. 1008 00:52:08,208 --> 00:52:09,250 Well ... 1009 00:52:09,334 --> 00:52:11,502 How much has it cost? 1010 00:52:11,586 --> 00:52:14,922 You mind me asking? Hey, come on. 1011 00:52:15,006 --> 00:52:17,591 Come on, it's just between us. 1012 00:52:17,676 --> 00:52:20,553 Very well. Two million. 1013 00:52:20,637 --> 00:52:24,223 Two million? Jeez. I didn't realize we were making Ben-Hur. 1014 00:52:26,893 --> 00:52:29,562 But tell me something. 1015 00:52:29,646 --> 00:52:31,939 You raised it all now? 1016 00:52:34,317 --> 00:52:37,069 Not quite. But we're getting there. 1017 00:52:37,154 --> 00:52:39,655 Everyone's been kind and deferred fees. 1018 00:52:40,073 --> 00:52:42,741 Well, not quite everyone. 1019 00:52:44,077 --> 00:52:45,578 David, I'm gonna go in with you on camera. 1020 00:52:45,662 --> 00:52:47,329 Excuse me. 1021 00:52:47,414 --> 00:52:49,582 I want to put a handkerchief here, if I may. 1022 00:52:49,666 --> 00:52:51,500 Is that out of shot? 1023 00:52:51,585 --> 00:52:53,335 That's fine, Mr. President. 1024 00:52:53,420 --> 00:52:55,671 Contractually, I think that we made 1025 00:52:55,755 --> 00:52:59,008 an agreement that after each question 1026 00:52:59,092 --> 00:53:01,677 I might dab my upper lip before answering it. 1027 00:53:01,761 --> 00:53:04,680 Which you won't show, you know, when you cut it together. 1028 00:53:04,764 --> 00:53:08,267 You're probably aware of my history with perspiration. 1029 00:53:08,351 --> 00:53:11,604 If you're referring to your TV debate with Jack Kennedy in 1960. 1030 00:53:11,688 --> 00:53:16,442 They say that moisture on my upper lip cost me the presidency. 1031 00:53:16,526 --> 00:53:20,654 People who heard it on the radio, well, they thought I'd won. 1032 00:53:20,739 --> 00:53:23,199 But television and the close-up, 1033 00:53:23,283 --> 00:53:25,743 they create their own sets of meanings. 1034 00:53:25,827 --> 00:53:29,038 So now they insist I bring a handkerchief 1035 00:53:29,122 --> 00:53:31,207 and that I have my eyebrows trimmed. 1036 00:53:31,291 --> 00:53:33,042 Sixty seconds, everyone. 1037 00:53:34,127 --> 00:53:36,212 You trim yours? No. 1038 00:53:36,296 --> 00:53:38,047 No, of course not. 1039 00:53:38,131 --> 00:53:40,549 Yeah, you're light-skinned. Yeah. 1040 00:53:40,634 --> 00:53:44,470 You got blue eyes. You've got no troubles with perspiration, I imagine. 1041 00:53:44,554 --> 00:53:46,513 No, not that I'm aware. 1042 00:53:46,598 --> 00:53:49,016 You were obviously born to be on the tube. 1043 00:53:50,894 --> 00:53:53,312 Stand by to roll tape in 30 seconds. 1044 00:53:53,897 --> 00:53:55,481 Settling. 1045 00:54:00,904 --> 00:54:02,821 Those shoes. 1046 00:54:04,366 --> 00:54:06,283 They're Italian, aren't they? 1047 00:54:06,493 --> 00:54:08,202 My shoes? I believe so. 1048 00:54:08,912 --> 00:54:10,955 Yeah, that's interesting. 1049 00:54:15,168 --> 00:54:17,378 You don't find them too effeminate? 1050 00:54:20,090 --> 00:54:21,548 No. 1051 00:54:21,633 --> 00:54:23,425 Well, I guess somebody in your field 1052 00:54:23,510 --> 00:54:25,344 can get away with them, you know. 1053 00:54:25,428 --> 00:54:27,012 Manolo, just check my collar, will you? 1054 00:54:27,097 --> 00:54:28,764 David, starting with camera two, 1055 00:54:28,848 --> 00:54:35,229 in four, three, two. Cue David. And ... 1056 00:54:37,482 --> 00:54:42,069 Mr. President. Now, we're going to be covering a lot of subjects 1057 00:54:42,153 --> 00:54:45,531 in a great deal of detail over the course of these interviews, 1058 00:54:45,615 --> 00:54:49,493 but I'd like to begin completely out of context 1059 00:54:49,577 --> 00:54:51,203 by asking you one question, 1060 00:54:51,288 --> 00:54:54,206 more than any other, almost every American 1061 00:54:54,291 --> 00:54:57,459 and people all over the world want me to ask. 1062 00:54:59,546 --> 00:55:01,422 Why didn't you burn the tapes? 1063 00:55:04,634 --> 00:55:06,468 Son of a bitch ! 1064 00:55:09,264 --> 00:55:15,227 Well, Mr. Frost, I'm surprised by your question 1065 00:55:15,520 --> 00:55:20,399 since we have an agreement, a contractual agreement, I believe, 1066 00:55:20,483 --> 00:55:24,737 that we would cover Watergate in our last taping session. 1067 00:55:34,039 --> 00:55:38,500 But if your viewers really do have a major concern, 1068 00:55:38,585 --> 00:55:43,630 then perhaps I should briefly respond to it now. 1069 00:55:43,715 --> 00:55:46,842 What probably very few people realize 1070 00:55:46,926 --> 00:55:49,136 is that the taping system in the White House 1071 00:55:49,220 --> 00:55:52,473 was set up by my predecessor, President Johnson, 1072 00:55:52,557 --> 00:55:56,685 partly to avoid the necessity of having a secretary in every meeting, 1073 00:55:56,770 --> 00:55:59,271 and partly to ensure there was 1074 00:55:59,356 --> 00:56:01,857 a record kept of every verbal agreement, 1075 00:56:01,941 --> 00:56:04,902 no matter how off the cuff or casual. 1076 00:56:05,570 --> 00:56:08,155 Now, initially, on coming into the White House, 1077 00:56:08,239 --> 00:56:11,033 I insisted on dismantling the system. 1078 00:56:11,117 --> 00:56:14,411 I hadn't liked the idea at all, but the former President, 1079 00:56:14,496 --> 00:56:16,747 President Johnson, had repeatedly said 1080 00:56:16,831 --> 00:56:20,084 how crazy it would be to remove the system, 1081 00:56:20,168 --> 00:56:21,752 which he felt was the best way ... 1082 00:56:21,836 --> 00:56:24,088 Well, in boxing, you know, there's always that first moment, 1083 00:56:24,172 --> 00:56:26,298 and you see it in the challenger's face. 1084 00:56:26,383 --> 00:56:28,509 It's that moment that he feels 1085 00:56:28,593 --> 00:56:30,928 the impact from the champ's first jab. 1086 00:56:31,262 --> 00:56:35,015 It's kind of a sickening moment, when he realizes that 1087 00:56:35,100 --> 00:56:38,394 all those months of pep talks and the hype, 1088 00:56:38,478 --> 00:56:41,605 the psyching yourself up, had been delusional all along. 1089 00:56:41,689 --> 00:56:43,649 You could see it in Frost's face. 1090 00:56:43,733 --> 00:56:45,901 If he didn't know the caliber of the man 1091 00:56:45,985 --> 00:56:48,112 that he was up against before the interview started, 1092 00:56:48,196 --> 00:56:50,697 he certainly knew it halfway through the President's first answer. 1093 00:56:50,782 --> 00:56:53,617 You see, since the best advice is 1094 00:56:53,701 --> 00:56:57,287 almost always of the confidential variety, 1095 00:56:57,372 --> 00:56:59,540 now the tapes have been made public, 1096 00:56:59,624 --> 00:57:02,084 people are unlikely ever to feel comfortable 1097 00:57:02,168 --> 00:57:04,753 speaking in confidence at the White House. 1098 00:57:04,838 --> 00:57:08,632 They're less likely to offer that advice. So in the end, 1099 00:57:08,716 --> 00:57:10,926 it's the whole political system and, 1100 00:57:11,010 --> 00:57:13,929 by implication, it's the country that suffers. 1101 00:57:14,013 --> 00:57:16,056 So much for our "ballsy" opening. 1102 00:57:18,935 --> 00:57:22,020 So when did you actually decide ... 1103 00:57:22,105 --> 00:57:25,023 At what moment did you know you were going to resign? 1104 00:57:25,108 --> 00:57:27,067 That's good. That's good. 1105 00:57:28,278 --> 00:57:32,364 I remember exactly. It was July 23. 1106 00:57:32,449 --> 00:57:35,284 After it was clear the Southern Democrats 1107 00:57:35,368 --> 00:57:36,827 that were still against impeachment had 1108 00:57:36,911 --> 00:57:39,997 had the screws put on them by the Speaker of the House. 1109 00:57:40,790 --> 00:57:47,421 That night I said to Al Haig, "Well, that's it. There goes the presidency." 1110 00:57:47,839 --> 00:57:49,423 And, of course, you know, being Al, 1111 00:57:49,507 --> 00:57:51,049 he tried to talk me out of it. 1112 00:57:51,134 --> 00:57:53,886 And Vice President Ford, I mean, let's not forget 1113 00:57:53,970 --> 00:57:57,556 he had the most to gain personally from my stepping down, 1114 00:57:57,640 --> 00:57:59,475 he was still absolutely convinced that 1115 00:57:59,559 --> 00:58:01,310 we were gonna win the impeachment vote, 1116 00:58:01,394 --> 00:58:03,145 and comfortably. John, we have to do something. 1117 00:58:03,229 --> 00:58:04,229 We have to move this along. 1118 00:58:04,314 --> 00:58:05,981 This is desperate, John. Do something. 1119 00:58:06,065 --> 00:58:08,484 Twenty-three minutes on one question? 1120 00:58:08,568 --> 00:58:09,610 Okay, let's take a break. 1121 00:58:09,694 --> 00:58:11,028 Let's change the tapes. Come on, man. 1122 00:58:11,112 --> 00:58:12,321 Stop tape. 1123 00:58:13,907 --> 00:58:15,157 I'm sorry, gentlemen. 1124 00:58:15,241 --> 00:58:16,867 We have to take a break. Tape change. 1125 00:58:16,951 --> 00:58:19,745 Oh. Okay, how's that? You getting what you need? 1126 00:58:19,829 --> 00:58:21,079 It's fantastic. 1127 00:58:21,164 --> 00:58:22,748 Good. Good. Thank you. 1128 00:58:24,334 --> 00:58:25,501 Excuse me. One moment, sir. 1129 00:58:25,585 --> 00:58:27,669 Yeah, sure. Take your time. 1130 00:58:28,046 --> 00:58:30,005 What are you doing, David? You've got to stop him rambling. 1131 00:58:30,089 --> 00:58:32,257 It's all right. These are just introductory exchanges. 1132 00:58:32,342 --> 00:58:33,800 But this session only lasts two hours. 1133 00:58:33,885 --> 00:58:36,553 Nearly half of it's gone, and we're wasting valuable material, okay? 1134 00:58:36,638 --> 00:58:38,889 The moment that he made the decision to resign, 1135 00:58:38,973 --> 00:58:40,265 we should be scoring points with that stuff. 1136 00:58:40,350 --> 00:58:41,517 Want me to switch to Vietnam? 1137 00:58:41,601 --> 00:58:43,060 No. No. We've got to get something 1138 00:58:43,144 --> 00:58:44,853 out of that resignation night. All right? 1139 00:58:44,938 --> 00:58:48,524 That was Nixon at his lowest point, a total wreck. On his knees? 1140 00:58:48,608 --> 00:58:51,068 Praying with Kissinger? Come on, you can nail him with that stuff. 1141 00:58:51,152 --> 00:58:52,528 Listen, was that okay? 1142 00:58:52,612 --> 00:58:53,862 Perfect, sir. 1143 00:58:53,947 --> 00:58:56,615 It didn't sound too arrogant or self-serving? 1144 00:58:56,699 --> 00:59:00,202 Not at all. You sounded controlled, even-handed, statesmanlike. 1145 00:59:00,286 --> 00:59:01,453 Good. 1146 00:59:01,538 --> 00:59:02,704 Now continue exactly the same way. 1147 00:59:02,789 --> 00:59:04,665 Long answers. Control the space. 1148 00:59:04,749 --> 00:59:05,707 Don't let him in. 1149 00:59:05,792 --> 00:59:07,084 Okay, got you. 1150 00:59:10,296 --> 00:59:12,339 Set. And roll. 1151 00:59:17,178 --> 00:59:22,266 We're coming back on camera three in four, three, two and ... 1152 00:59:24,686 --> 00:59:28,730 Reading the account of those extraordinary final days, 1153 00:59:28,815 --> 00:59:31,275 it seems your most emotional moment came 1154 00:59:31,359 --> 00:59:34,695 in that heart-to-heart you had with Henry Kissinger. 1155 00:59:34,779 --> 00:59:38,407 Was that perhaps the most emotional moment of your career? 1156 00:59:38,866 --> 00:59:40,492 - Good, good. - Yes. 1157 00:59:41,202 --> 00:59:46,498 I would say it was about as emotional a moment as I've ever had. 1158 00:59:48,668 --> 00:59:50,794 Except, well, you know, it's hard to say 1159 00:59:50,878 --> 00:59:52,963 what is the most emotional moment, 1160 00:59:53,047 --> 00:59:55,674 because each is different. 1161 00:59:56,092 --> 00:59:59,177 I remember the day Eisenhower died. 1162 00:59:59,262 --> 01:00:00,554 For God's sake. 1163 01:00:00,638 --> 01:00:04,891 And the day I walked my eldest daughter Tricia down the aisle. 1164 01:00:04,976 --> 01:00:07,644 And the day during the impeachment hearings 1165 01:00:07,729 --> 01:00:11,356 when Julie, that's my youngest, she came into my office, 1166 01:00:11,441 --> 01:00:15,944 she threw her arms around me, she kissed me. She cried, you know? 1167 01:00:16,029 --> 01:00:18,905 And she so seldom cries. 1168 01:00:19,115 --> 01:00:21,450 She said, "Daddy, you're the finest man I know." 1169 01:00:21,534 --> 01:00:23,535 "Daddy, you're the finest man I know"? 1170 01:00:23,995 --> 01:00:27,497 "And whatever you do, I will support you. 1171 01:00:28,541 --> 01:00:32,878 "You just gotta go through the fire, you know, a little longer." 1172 01:00:35,256 --> 01:00:37,007 This is beautiful. 1173 01:00:37,091 --> 01:00:40,260 So Kissinger and I were in the Lincoln Sitting Room, 1174 01:00:40,345 --> 01:00:43,305 and together we began to reminisce 1175 01:00:43,389 --> 01:00:47,225 about some of the great decisions that we'd participated in. 1176 01:00:47,310 --> 01:00:50,479 There was China, the Soviet Union, 1177 01:00:50,563 --> 01:00:53,106 the peace settlement in Vietnam. 1178 01:00:53,191 --> 01:00:57,194 Now, let me tell you something that I never told anybody. 1179 01:00:57,278 --> 01:01:01,740 Whenever I have had a really tough decision to make ... 1180 01:01:02,075 --> 01:01:04,826 Now, we were in the Lincoln Sitting Room at that time. 1181 01:01:04,911 --> 01:01:08,580 I have come into this room for the purpose of praying. 1182 01:01:09,624 --> 01:01:13,502 "Now, Henry, I'm a Quaker. You're a Jew. 1183 01:01:13,586 --> 01:01:15,504 "Neither of us is particularly orthodox, 1184 01:01:15,588 --> 01:01:18,632 "but I'd like to think that each of us in our own way 1185 01:01:18,716 --> 01:01:21,677 "has a deep religious sensitivity. 1186 01:01:21,761 --> 01:01:26,848 "So if you don't mind, could we just have a moment of silent prayer?" 1187 01:01:26,933 --> 01:01:31,186 So we knelt down. Now, this was in front of that table where 1188 01:01:31,270 --> 01:01:35,399 Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 1189 01:01:35,483 --> 01:01:38,944 And then after a few moments, we both got up again, and Henry say ... 1190 01:01:39,028 --> 01:01:40,612 Is there ... I'm sorry. 1191 01:01:40,738 --> 01:01:41,863 Is there a problem? 1192 01:01:41,948 --> 01:01:42,989 That's time. 1193 01:01:43,574 --> 01:01:45,701 We're over two hours. 1194 01:01:45,785 --> 01:01:47,869 Really? So soon? 1195 01:01:48,579 --> 01:01:51,540 Well, Mr. President, I gather our time is up. 1196 01:01:51,749 --> 01:01:53,542 Gee, now, that's a pity. 1197 01:01:53,626 --> 01:01:56,128 You know, I was beginning to enjoy that. 1198 01:02:00,091 --> 01:02:02,426 That was terrific, both of you. 1199 01:02:02,510 --> 01:02:03,885 We're getting some great material. 1200 01:02:03,970 --> 01:02:05,303 You know, it's so funny, too, 1201 01:02:05,388 --> 01:02:08,807 because I was expecting questions on Vietnam. 1202 01:02:08,891 --> 01:02:11,393 And we prepared for that, hadn't we, Jack? 1203 01:02:11,477 --> 01:02:12,853 Yes, so did I. 1204 01:02:12,937 --> 01:02:16,064 I guess we just got caught up, you know, reminiscing. 1205 01:02:16,149 --> 01:02:17,149 Indeed. 1206 01:02:17,233 --> 01:02:19,484 So, day after tomorrow, 10:00, right? 1207 01:02:19,569 --> 01:02:20,652 Yes, indeed. 1208 01:02:20,737 --> 01:02:22,446 I look forward to it. Bye-bye. 1209 01:02:29,912 --> 01:02:31,997 There's no need to say anything. 1210 01:02:38,546 --> 01:02:40,672 - Mr. President! - Mr. President! 1211 01:02:43,760 --> 01:02:45,010 Mr. President! 1212 01:02:45,094 --> 01:02:46,428 Mr. President, please! 1213 01:02:47,430 --> 01:02:48,638 What are you gonna tell him? 1214 01:02:48,723 --> 01:02:50,432 I'm gonna tell him he's gotta get involved. 1215 01:02:50,516 --> 01:02:52,309 He's gotta be able to shut him up. Shh. 1216 01:02:52,393 --> 01:02:55,437 David, we have some fundamental problems in our approach that I think ... 1217 01:02:55,521 --> 01:02:56,897 Don't worry, Bob. I'm on it. 1218 01:02:56,981 --> 01:02:57,981 We can use some of the Kissinger stuff. 1219 01:02:58,065 --> 01:02:59,775 Yeah, but we need to discuss it sooner rather than late ... 1220 01:02:59,859 --> 01:03:01,234 Look, I'm disappointed, too. 1221 01:03:01,319 --> 01:03:04,029 But I wonder, could we possibly spare the post-mortem for now? 1222 01:03:04,113 --> 01:03:06,156 I don't mean to minimize it. It's just I've got to get back to LA 1223 01:03:06,240 --> 01:03:07,616 to meet some people from Weed Eater. 1224 01:03:07,700 --> 01:03:09,534 Thanks, everyone! Great work! 1225 01:03:09,619 --> 01:03:11,787 Marv, Lloyd, great day. Bye, David. 1226 01:03:11,871 --> 01:03:14,748 I'll see you soon. God bless! 1227 01:03:17,794 --> 01:03:20,212 What the hell is Weed Eater? 1228 01:03:20,505 --> 01:03:22,714 It's a horticultural mechanism. 1229 01:03:22,799 --> 01:03:23,799 One of our sponsors. 1230 01:03:23,883 --> 01:03:25,258 What happened to Xerox? 1231 01:03:25,343 --> 01:03:27,594 What about General Motors or IBM? 1232 01:03:27,678 --> 01:03:30,722 I gather that not all of the blue-chip accounts came through. 1233 01:03:30,807 --> 01:03:32,974 We do have Alpo. 1234 01:03:33,059 --> 01:03:34,476 Dog food? 1235 01:03:34,560 --> 01:03:36,895 Wait, John. We're already taping. 1236 01:03:37,396 --> 01:03:39,105 So we're close, right? We're very close? 1237 01:03:39,190 --> 01:03:40,607 That's probably a question you should ask David. 1238 01:03:40,691 --> 01:03:42,567 Are we close, John? 1239 01:03:45,446 --> 01:03:47,572 I believe we're at 30%. 1240 01:03:48,324 --> 01:03:49,825 To go? Or 30% sold? 1241 01:03:49,909 --> 01:03:52,577 Again, that's probably a question you should ... 1242 01:03:53,663 --> 01:03:55,247 Sold, 30% sold. 1243 01:03:55,957 --> 01:03:57,499 Jesus ... 1244 01:03:57,625 --> 01:03:59,167 I thought we were practically fully financed. 1245 01:03:59,252 --> 01:04:02,379 We were. But the financing was always conditional on advertising sales, 1246 01:04:02,463 --> 01:04:04,172 and no one predicted that they'd fall apart like this. 1247 01:04:04,257 --> 01:04:06,132 Well, why have they fallen apart? Based on what? 1248 01:04:06,217 --> 01:04:09,010 Credibility of the project. What else are advertising sales based on? 1249 01:04:09,095 --> 01:04:11,221 Listen, I understand your concern. 1250 01:04:11,305 --> 01:04:14,516 But could I ask you to go a little easier on David over the next couple of days, 1251 01:04:14,600 --> 01:04:17,018 bearing in mind the extraordinary pressure that he's under? 1252 01:04:17,103 --> 01:04:20,605 'Cause at the moment, he's effectively paying for all this himself. 1253 01:04:20,690 --> 01:04:24,359 So he's in it for a lot more than just his reputation. 1254 01:04:24,694 --> 01:04:25,986 And we're not? 1255 01:04:33,077 --> 01:04:36,663 You seemed very confident last time. 1256 01:04:36,747 --> 01:04:39,666 I don't understand. Why this sudden change of heart? 1257 01:04:39,750 --> 01:04:42,294 All right, this is just madness. It's Richard Nixon. 1258 01:04:42,378 --> 01:04:46,590 These interviews will do mid-30s audience share, minimum. 1259 01:04:46,674 --> 01:04:53,305 Jimmy! Yes. Yes, back again, like the proverbial bad penny. 1260 01:04:53,389 --> 01:04:54,931 Look, I hate to do this to a friend, 1261 01:04:55,016 --> 01:04:58,226 and I know you're already in for more than I asked for, 1262 01:04:58,311 --> 01:05:01,771 but I need you to dig a little deeper. 1263 01:05:03,316 --> 01:05:05,483 I'm right up against it now. 1264 01:05:09,030 --> 01:05:12,240 So, I had a chance to review yesterday's tapes. 1265 01:05:12,325 --> 01:05:13,533 And? 1266 01:05:13,618 --> 01:05:17,621 Honestly? Far too soft, David. 1267 01:05:17,705 --> 01:05:19,789 Go on. Beat me, John. Beat me with a stick. 1268 01:05:19,874 --> 01:05:22,876 Look. No, I'm serious. 1269 01:05:22,960 --> 01:05:25,337 You have got to make it more uncomfortable for him. 1270 01:05:25,421 --> 01:05:28,131 You can start by sitting forward. You've gotta attack more. 1271 01:05:28,215 --> 01:05:29,799 If he starts tailing off, bang, 1272 01:05:29,884 --> 01:05:31,259 jump in with another question. 1273 01:05:31,344 --> 01:05:33,386 Don't trade generalizations. 1274 01:05:33,471 --> 01:05:34,471 Be specific. 1275 01:05:34,555 --> 01:05:37,641 And above all, don't let him give these self-serving, 23-minute homilies. 1276 01:05:37,725 --> 01:05:38,767 Right. And keep your distance 1277 01:05:38,851 --> 01:05:40,101 before the tape starts running. 1278 01:05:40,186 --> 01:05:41,436 He was toying with you yesterday. 1279 01:05:41,520 --> 01:05:43,772 All that shit about Ben-Hur and struggling to raise the money. 1280 01:05:43,856 --> 01:05:47,943 Those are mind games. Don't engage. 1281 01:05:48,027 --> 01:05:51,488 Never forget, you are in there with a major operator. 1282 01:05:52,698 --> 01:05:54,115 Got it. 1283 01:06:01,374 --> 01:06:02,415 Ah. 1284 01:06:03,250 --> 01:06:05,210 The Grand Inquisitor! 1285 01:06:06,379 --> 01:06:08,797 No, just your friendly neighborhood confidant. 1286 01:06:13,678 --> 01:06:15,762 It's okay. We just blew a bulb. 1287 01:06:16,555 --> 01:06:19,015 This is why I got all these Secret Service guys around. 1288 01:06:19,100 --> 01:06:20,475 There's nothing to worry about. 1289 01:06:20,559 --> 01:06:23,895 As a president, you get used to this kind of stuff. 1290 01:06:24,063 --> 01:06:27,565 Ed, we gotta get in here and change out this 750, ASAP. 1291 01:06:33,030 --> 01:06:34,698 Focus, sir. Yeah. 1292 01:06:37,243 --> 01:06:40,912 Okay, we are back. Okay, take it on my count. 1293 01:06:41,747 --> 01:06:44,666 Okay, stand by to roll tape. 30 seconds. 1294 01:06:44,959 --> 01:06:46,167 Settling. 1295 01:06:46,252 --> 01:06:47,919 You have a pleasant evening last night? 1296 01:06:48,004 --> 01:06:49,587 Yes, thank you. 1297 01:06:57,763 --> 01:07:00,056 Did you do any fornicating? 1298 01:07:00,307 --> 01:07:03,351 David, we're starting with camera two in four, 1299 01:07:04,478 --> 01:07:06,688 three, two and ... 1300 01:07:11,277 --> 01:07:14,529 Mr. President, you came to office promising peace, 1301 01:07:14,613 --> 01:07:16,573 but no sooner did you get into the White House 1302 01:07:16,657 --> 01:07:21,077 than US involvement in Vietnam deepened and the war was prolonged 1303 01:07:21,162 --> 01:07:22,746 with calamitous consequences. 1304 01:07:22,830 --> 01:07:26,291 Did you feel that you'd betrayed the people that had elected you? 1305 01:07:26,375 --> 01:07:30,128 Well, Vietnam was not my war. 1306 01:07:30,212 --> 01:07:31,880 It was my inheritance. 1307 01:07:31,964 --> 01:07:33,798 And it looked to me ... Jump in. 1308 01:07:33,883 --> 01:07:36,885 ... as if the reason for our being there 1309 01:07:36,969 --> 01:07:41,681 had perhaps not been adequately understood by the American people. 1310 01:07:42,099 --> 01:07:44,100 It seemed to me they hadn't realized 1311 01:07:44,185 --> 01:07:49,397 how important a test this was of American credibility. 1312 01:07:50,107 --> 01:07:52,108 The whole world was watching to see 1313 01:07:52,193 --> 01:07:55,236 if we have the character to see it through. 1314 01:07:55,321 --> 01:07:58,073 Now, look, I could have bugged out. I could have. 1315 01:07:58,157 --> 01:08:00,784 I could have blamed it on my predecessors. 1316 01:08:00,868 --> 01:08:03,369 I could have pulled the troops out of Vietnam early, 1317 01:08:03,454 --> 01:08:05,747 and very possibly, I would have won 1318 01:08:05,831 --> 01:08:09,084 some Scandinavian peace prize into the bargain. 1319 01:08:09,168 --> 01:08:10,794 But I believed in the cause. 1320 01:08:10,878 --> 01:08:16,216 And sometimes, you know, what you believe in, it's the harder path. 1321 01:08:16,300 --> 01:08:21,096 You might even say that I was the last casualty of the Vietnam War. 1322 01:08:21,180 --> 01:08:23,973 Yeah, tell that to the paraplegics. 1323 01:08:24,058 --> 01:08:25,391 Come on, David, Cambodia. 1324 01:08:25,476 --> 01:08:28,603 And Cambodia? An invasion which everybody advised you against. 1325 01:08:28,687 --> 01:08:31,731 All the CIA and Pentagon intelligence suggested it would fail. 1326 01:08:31,816 --> 01:08:32,899 So why did you do it? 1327 01:08:32,983 --> 01:08:34,025 Well, first of all, 1328 01:08:34,110 --> 01:08:40,532 as a result of our incursion into Cambodia, we picked up 22,000 rifles, 1329 01:08:40,616 --> 01:08:45,120 15 million rounds of ammunition, 150,000 rockets, mortars. 1330 01:08:45,204 --> 01:08:47,413 That's all belonging to the North Vietnamese, 1331 01:08:47,498 --> 01:08:50,500 which would only otherwise have been directed 1332 01:08:50,584 --> 01:08:52,710 right onto American soldiers. 1333 01:08:52,795 --> 01:08:56,047 But one of the principal justifications you gave for the incursion 1334 01:08:56,132 --> 01:08:57,799 was the supposed existence of 1335 01:08:57,883 --> 01:09:02,762 the "headquarters of the entire Communist military operation in South Vietnam," 1336 01:09:02,847 --> 01:09:06,599 a sort of "bamboo Pentagon" which proved not to exist at all. 1337 01:09:06,684 --> 01:09:08,309 No, no. Wait a minute there. No, I wa ... And by sending ... 1338 01:09:08,394 --> 01:09:11,646 And by sending B-52s to carpet bomb a country, 1339 01:09:11,730 --> 01:09:14,274 wiping out whole civilian areas, 1340 01:09:14,358 --> 01:09:17,360 you end up radicalizing a once moderate people, 1341 01:09:17,444 --> 01:09:20,071 uniting them in anti-American sentiment 1342 01:09:20,197 --> 01:09:22,782 and creating a monster in the Khmer Rouge 1343 01:09:22,867 --> 01:09:24,159 that would lead to civil war ... 1344 01:09:24,243 --> 01:09:25,910 All right! ... and genocide. 1345 01:09:26,078 --> 01:09:27,495 Yes, good, good, good. There it is. 1346 01:09:27,580 --> 01:09:28,746 Okay, run VT. 1347 01:09:28,831 --> 01:09:29,831 Roll tape. 1348 01:10:26,472 --> 01:10:27,680 Well, sir, I'm sure you'd agree, 1349 01:10:27,765 --> 01:10:29,807 some pretty stirring images there. 1350 01:10:29,892 --> 01:10:35,647 Look, it was never US policy to kill civilians. That's the enemy's way. 1351 01:10:35,731 --> 01:10:36,731 Well, I'm not suggesting ... 1352 01:10:36,815 --> 01:10:37,857 And if you're asking the question 1353 01:10:37,942 --> 01:10:42,028 do I regret the casualties on both sides in the war, yeah, sure, of course I do. 1354 01:10:42,112 --> 01:10:44,155 Let me tell you something. It can just wear you down. 1355 01:10:44,240 --> 01:10:46,157 Well, all right, sir, when you are faced with someone who ... 1356 01:10:46,242 --> 01:10:48,284 But whenever I have had my doubts, 1357 01:10:48,369 --> 01:10:50,495 I remembered the construction worker in Philadelphia, 1358 01:10:50,579 --> 01:10:51,788 because he came up to me 1359 01:10:51,872 --> 01:10:55,416 and he said, "Sir, I got only one criticism of that Cambodia thing. 1360 01:10:55,501 --> 01:10:57,252 "If you'd gone in earlier, 1361 01:10:57,336 --> 01:10:59,087 "you might have captured the gun 1362 01:10:59,171 --> 01:11:01,172 "that killed my boy three months ago." 1363 01:11:01,257 --> 01:11:04,259 So you're asking me, do I regret going into Cambodia? 1364 01:11:04,343 --> 01:11:06,594 No! I don't. You know what? 1365 01:11:06,679 --> 01:11:09,722 I wish I'd gone in sooner and harder. 1366 01:11:09,807 --> 01:11:10,848 Got him. - Safe! 1367 01:11:17,356 --> 01:11:22,193 It was horrifying. It was horrifying. And he was so confident. 1368 01:11:25,197 --> 01:11:27,657 What are you gonna say about Watergate? 1369 01:11:27,992 --> 01:11:31,286 Sorry, boys, just all talked out, you know? 1370 01:11:38,043 --> 01:11:39,419 Better? 1371 01:11:43,048 --> 01:11:45,133 It was. Unquestionably better. 1372 01:11:50,556 --> 01:11:51,806 What's next? 1373 01:11:52,433 --> 01:11:53,683 Foreign policy. 1374 01:11:56,228 --> 01:12:01,274 Great. Russia, China, the big power stuff. 1375 01:12:01,358 --> 01:12:03,651 Yeah, so? 1376 01:12:03,736 --> 01:12:05,486 So if he beats him up like that on Vietnam, 1377 01:12:05,571 --> 01:12:08,448 imagine what he's gonna do with his real achievements. 1378 01:12:11,076 --> 01:12:13,411 It ain't gonna be pretty. 1379 01:12:13,495 --> 01:12:16,205 The answer was grow by six inches. 1380 01:12:16,290 --> 01:12:19,167 It was agony to watch. 1381 01:12:19,251 --> 01:12:22,837 Now, that's when Khrushchev called me, begging me to intervene. 1382 01:12:22,921 --> 01:12:24,964 You see, he and Mao didn't get along, 1383 01:12:25,049 --> 01:12:27,342 and Khrushchev knew that the Chairman 1384 01:12:27,426 --> 01:12:29,427 would talk to me, no one else. 1385 01:12:29,511 --> 01:12:34,265 You see, I was the only one that Mao would trust personally, man-to-man. 1386 01:12:34,350 --> 01:12:36,851 When David tried to lay a finger on him, 1387 01:12:36,935 --> 01:12:39,312 Nixon made mincemeat out of him. 1388 01:12:40,272 --> 01:12:41,981 What "Revolution," David? 1389 01:12:42,066 --> 01:12:43,858 You just let Richard Nixon claim 1390 01:12:43,942 --> 01:12:46,152 the country was in a state of revolution? 1391 01:12:46,236 --> 01:12:49,489 What, with protestors "bombing" and "assaulting" police officers? 1392 01:12:49,573 --> 01:12:50,782 That's not how I remember it. 1393 01:12:50,866 --> 01:12:53,785 What I remember is people protesting peacefully and legitimately 1394 01:12:53,869 --> 01:12:55,036 against the Vietnam War! 1395 01:12:55,120 --> 01:12:56,662 That's what I remember. Music off, please. Off. 1396 01:12:56,747 --> 01:12:59,415 By the end, wiretapping students and breaking into journalists' homes 1397 01:12:59,500 --> 01:13:01,709 was beginning to sound like a rational response. 1398 01:13:01,794 --> 01:13:03,169 Well, I'm sorry you feel this way, 1399 01:13:03,253 --> 01:13:05,338 but I simply cannot share your view. 1400 01:13:05,422 --> 01:13:06,506 About what exactly? 1401 01:13:06,590 --> 01:13:07,924 About any of it, frankly! 1402 01:13:08,008 --> 01:13:10,635 I thought today was a huge improvement. 1403 01:13:10,719 --> 01:13:11,719 Are you nuts? 1404 01:13:11,804 --> 01:13:13,805 Let me tell you how bad things were today. 1405 01:13:13,889 --> 01:13:16,891 After the taping finished, I overheard two members of the crew say 1406 01:13:16,975 --> 01:13:19,352 they never voted for him when they had the chance, 1407 01:13:19,436 --> 01:13:22,814 but if he ran for office again today, he'd get their support. 1408 01:13:22,898 --> 01:13:25,608 You're making him look presidential, for Christ's sake! 1409 01:13:25,692 --> 01:13:28,236 And forget about the trivia, David. 1410 01:13:28,320 --> 01:13:31,155 Who cares whether Nixon took the White House bed to Europe 1411 01:13:31,240 --> 01:13:33,074 when he traveled? I do! 1412 01:13:33,158 --> 01:13:34,784 Well, it's irrelevant! 1413 01:13:34,868 --> 01:13:38,579 And it's just the sort of banal anecdote that would distract a talk ... 1414 01:13:39,915 --> 01:13:41,165 A what? 1415 01:13:44,128 --> 01:13:46,003 Go on. No, say it. 1416 01:13:46,088 --> 01:13:48,589 What, you were gonna say "talk show host"? 1417 01:13:49,925 --> 01:13:52,343 Yeah. Yeah, I was. 1418 01:14:00,185 --> 01:14:04,480 All right, look, it's useless me trying to answer your points. 1419 01:14:04,690 --> 01:14:08,609 Frankly, I don't share any of your sense of pessimism or alarm. 1420 01:14:10,404 --> 01:14:13,448 And this ridiculous self-flagellation, 1421 01:14:13,532 --> 01:14:16,033 in my view, is just depressing. 1422 01:14:17,119 --> 01:14:18,202 No! 1423 01:14:20,080 --> 01:14:24,542 And threatening to derail the whole enterprise. 1424 01:14:26,211 --> 01:14:31,340 Look. If there is anyone here who thinks we're gonna fail, 1425 01:14:32,301 --> 01:14:34,343 they better leave now, 1426 01:14:35,387 --> 01:14:37,638 or it'll infect everyone else. 1427 01:14:44,688 --> 01:14:46,022 No one? 1428 01:14:49,443 --> 01:14:50,860 Right. 1429 01:14:52,237 --> 01:14:53,362 Good. 1430 01:14:55,824 --> 01:14:59,619 Now, I suggest instead of festering around the hotel for the next five days, 1431 01:14:59,703 --> 01:15:02,663 we all go our separate ways over Easter. 1432 01:15:04,374 --> 01:15:06,834 But before we go, Caroline and I would like you 1433 01:15:06,919 --> 01:15:09,337 to join us for a little celebratory dinner 1434 01:15:09,421 --> 01:15:12,465 at Patrick Terrail's new place. 1435 01:15:12,549 --> 01:15:15,301 Celebrate? Celebrate what, David? 1436 01:15:15,385 --> 01:15:17,136 The fact that we're all gonna be working at Burger King? 1437 01:15:17,221 --> 01:15:20,431 What are we celebrating? It's my birthday, Bob! 1438 01:15:25,103 --> 01:15:30,441 I'd like to celebrate my birthday with a few friends. 1439 01:15:42,371 --> 01:15:43,621 Look, is that Neil Diamond? 1440 01:15:43,705 --> 01:15:45,581 Frost and Nixon, Frost and Nixon 1441 01:15:45,666 --> 01:15:46,999 And is that Sammy Cahn? 1442 01:15:47,084 --> 01:15:48,209 Go together like Prancer and Vixen 1443 01:15:48,293 --> 01:15:49,627 David, did you hear that? 1444 01:15:49,711 --> 01:15:51,420 Soaring through the airwaves 1445 01:15:51,505 --> 01:15:53,798 Jesus, that's Hugh Hefner. 1446 01:15:53,882 --> 01:15:54,882 Oh, my God. 1447 01:15:54,967 --> 01:15:56,217 Hoping for several hefty paydays 1448 01:15:56,301 --> 01:15:57,718 Yeah, I think it is. With Michael York. 1449 01:15:57,803 --> 01:15:59,053 That's gotta be Bunnies. 1450 01:15:59,137 --> 01:16:00,763 Those are Bunnies? Those are real Bunnies? 1451 01:16:00,847 --> 01:16:02,223 Frost and Nixon, Frost and Nixon 1452 01:16:02,307 --> 01:16:03,432 Go together like Mason and Dixon 1453 01:16:03,517 --> 01:16:07,019 David, just putting it all together it's the most extraordinary accomplishment. 1454 01:16:07,104 --> 01:16:08,646 Frost lines up with Dicky ... 1455 01:16:08,730 --> 01:16:09,939 No one else could have done that. 1456 01:16:10,023 --> 01:16:12,733 And these interviews are always gonna be around for future generations 1457 01:16:12,818 --> 01:16:15,111 of academics and political historians. 1458 01:16:15,195 --> 01:16:16,195 That bad? 1459 01:16:16,280 --> 01:16:17,989 He saved it 1460 01:16:18,073 --> 01:16:21,200 He wrote a book Now here's the hook 1461 01:16:21,285 --> 01:16:22,785 David ! 1462 01:16:22,869 --> 01:16:23,911 Patrick. 1463 01:16:23,996 --> 01:16:26,956 He's not a crook He's paid by David 1464 01:17:09,207 --> 01:17:13,628 My, what a festive atmosphere. Please, don't get up. 1465 01:17:13,712 --> 01:17:17,298 I take it from this that the interviews have gone well? 1466 01:17:17,382 --> 01:17:19,050 Better than that, ma'am. It's a shutout. 1467 01:17:19,134 --> 01:17:21,302 The President's sitting on an 11-0 lead. 1468 01:17:21,386 --> 01:17:23,429 Really? Well. Yeah. 1469 01:17:23,513 --> 01:17:25,723 Well, that is most gratifying. 1470 01:17:30,062 --> 01:17:33,230 I'm so glad it's all gone according to plan. 1471 01:17:48,497 --> 01:17:49,789 I see. 1472 01:17:51,458 --> 01:17:53,501 Is there nothing we can do? 1473 01:17:55,128 --> 01:17:56,295 Really? 1474 01:17:58,507 --> 01:18:01,634 Right. Well, thanks for letting me know. 1475 01:18:08,725 --> 01:18:11,686 It's true. They've dropped the Australian show. 1476 01:18:11,770 --> 01:18:14,063 Oh, no, David. 1477 01:18:14,147 --> 01:18:17,942 They felt that I needed to re-evaluate my priorities. 1478 01:18:20,278 --> 01:18:23,364 Now my producer's worried that the London show will follow. 1479 01:18:26,618 --> 01:18:27,952 I'm in this for everything I've got, 1480 01:18:28,036 --> 01:18:31,747 and there's still no guarantee it'll ever see the light of day. 1481 01:18:33,834 --> 01:18:38,379 What have I done? What was I thinking? Why didn't anyone stop me? 1482 01:18:38,463 --> 01:18:40,089 They should have physically stopped me! 1483 01:18:40,173 --> 01:18:41,799 No, no, no. Shh. 1484 01:18:49,307 --> 01:18:53,185 Look, we don't have to go out tonight. Why don't we stay in? 1485 01:18:55,272 --> 01:18:56,355 Hmm? 1486 01:19:00,652 --> 01:19:04,071 I'll go down to Trader Vic's and bring something back. 1487 01:19:05,782 --> 01:19:07,366 Steak or fish? 1488 01:19:08,869 --> 01:19:10,202 David? 1489 01:19:14,458 --> 01:19:17,042 Don't worry. I'll call from the restaurant. 1490 01:20:02,130 --> 01:20:06,175 I'll have a cheeseburger. 1491 01:20:06,593 --> 01:20:10,846 Mmm. That sounds good. I used to love cheeseburgers, 1492 01:20:11,890 --> 01:20:14,058 but Dr. Lundgren made me give them up. 1493 01:20:14,142 --> 01:20:17,686 He switched me to cottage cheese and pineapple instead. 1494 01:20:18,730 --> 01:20:21,065 He calls them my Hawaiian burgers, 1495 01:20:21,650 --> 01:20:23,526 but they don't taste like burgers at all. 1496 01:20:23,610 --> 01:20:25,778 They taste like Styrofoam. 1497 01:20:29,574 --> 01:20:31,450 I hope I'm not disturbing. 1498 01:20:32,285 --> 01:20:33,661 No. 1499 01:20:33,745 --> 01:20:35,371 It's a Friday night. 1500 01:20:35,455 --> 01:20:40,000 You've probably got somebody there whom you're entertaining. 1501 01:20:41,419 --> 01:20:42,670 No. 1502 01:20:42,796 --> 01:20:44,505 Well, then what are you doing? 1503 01:20:45,257 --> 01:20:47,216 A handsome young fellow, 1504 01:20:47,759 --> 01:20:52,805 an eligible young bachelor alone on a Friday night. 1505 01:20:54,474 --> 01:20:59,937 If you must know, I'm preparing for our final session. 1506 01:21:00,814 --> 01:21:02,982 The all-important final session. 1507 01:21:03,066 --> 01:21:05,192 Yes. Watergate. 1508 01:21:06,236 --> 01:21:09,405 'Cause I guess the way you handle Watergate's gonna determine 1509 01:21:09,489 --> 01:21:12,783 whether these interviews are a success or a failure. 1510 01:21:15,078 --> 01:21:16,912 Should I be nervous? 1511 01:21:18,707 --> 01:21:22,793 Well, I'm gonna give it my best shot. 1512 01:21:23,169 --> 01:21:28,173 Quite right. No holds barred. No holds barred. 1513 01:21:29,050 --> 01:21:30,968 You know, it's strange. 1514 01:21:31,803 --> 01:21:35,306 Now, we have sat in chairs opposite one another, 1515 01:21:35,390 --> 01:21:38,642 talking for hours, it seems, days on end, 1516 01:21:38,727 --> 01:21:41,937 and yet I've hardly gotten to know you. 1517 01:21:42,981 --> 01:21:46,066 One of my people, as part of the preparation 1518 01:21:46,151 --> 01:21:48,819 for this interview, she did a profile on you. 1519 01:21:49,362 --> 01:21:53,407 And I'm sorry to say that I just got around to reading it tonight. 1520 01:21:56,328 --> 01:21:59,121 There's some interesting stuff in there. 1521 01:21:59,205 --> 01:22:02,291 Your Methodist background, the modest circumstances, 1522 01:22:02,375 --> 01:22:08,714 and then you're off to a grand university full of richer, posher types. 1523 01:22:08,798 --> 01:22:11,300 What was it? Oxford? 1524 01:22:12,636 --> 01:22:14,136 Cambridge. 1525 01:22:15,096 --> 01:22:19,266 Did the snobs there look down on you, too? 1526 01:22:20,644 --> 01:22:25,189 Of course they did. That's our tragedy, isn't it, Mr. Frost? 1527 01:22:26,024 --> 01:22:31,278 No matter how high we get, they still look down at us. 1528 01:22:32,364 --> 01:22:34,323 I really don't know what you're talking about. 1529 01:22:34,407 --> 01:22:36,075 Yes, you do. 1530 01:22:36,618 --> 01:22:40,496 Now, come on. No matter how many awards 1531 01:22:40,580 --> 01:22:43,791 or column inches are written about you 1532 01:22:43,875 --> 01:22:48,462 or how high the elected office is for me, it's still not enough. 1533 01:22:49,339 --> 01:22:51,590 We still feel like the little man, 1534 01:22:51,675 --> 01:22:56,428 the loser they told us we were a hundred times. 1535 01:22:57,097 --> 01:23:01,809 The smart-asses at college, the high-ups, the well-born, 1536 01:23:02,686 --> 01:23:07,147 the people whose respect we really wanted, really craved. 1537 01:23:07,565 --> 01:23:13,696 And isn't that why we work so hard now, why we fight for every inch, 1538 01:23:13,780 --> 01:23:17,449 scrambling our way up in undignified fashion? 1539 01:23:17,534 --> 01:23:22,621 If we're honest for a minute, if we reflect privately just for a moment, 1540 01:23:22,706 --> 01:23:29,670 if we allow ourselves a glimpse into that shadowy place we call our soul, 1541 01:23:29,838 --> 01:23:34,591 isn't that why we're here now? The two of us? 1542 01:23:34,843 --> 01:23:38,429 Looking for a way back into the sun, 1543 01:23:38,930 --> 01:23:43,267 into the limelight, back onto the winner's podium. 1544 01:23:43,351 --> 01:23:46,895 Because we could feel it slipping away. 1545 01:23:46,980 --> 01:23:49,940 We were headed, both of us, for the dirt! 1546 01:23:50,025 --> 01:23:54,486 A place the snobs always told us that we'd end up. 1547 01:23:54,571 --> 01:23:55,696 Face in the dust. 1548 01:23:55,780 --> 01:23:59,867 Humiliated all the more for having tried so pitifully hard. 1549 01:23:59,951 --> 01:24:02,369 Well, to hell with that! 1550 01:24:02,454 --> 01:24:04,663 We're not gonna let that happen, either of us. 1551 01:24:04,748 --> 01:24:06,415 We're gonna show those bums. 1552 01:24:06,499 --> 01:24:10,044 We're gonna make them choke on our continued success, 1553 01:24:10,128 --> 01:24:15,758 our continued headlines, our continued awards and power and glory! 1554 01:24:15,842 --> 01:24:19,887 We are gonna make those motherfuckers choke! 1555 01:24:31,149 --> 01:24:32,483 Am I right? 1556 01:24:33,860 --> 01:24:37,654 You are. Except only one of us can win. 1557 01:24:38,823 --> 01:24:39,823 Yes. 1558 01:24:42,702 --> 01:24:48,040 And I shall be your fiercest adversary. 1559 01:24:48,625 --> 01:24:52,711 I shall come at you with everything I got, 1560 01:24:53,671 --> 01:25:00,260 because the limelight can only shine on one of us. 1561 01:25:01,846 --> 01:25:06,183 And for the other, it'll be the wilderness, 1562 01:25:08,019 --> 01:25:13,232 with nothing and no one for company 1563 01:25:14,943 --> 01:25:18,529 but those voices ringing in our head. 1564 01:25:33,294 --> 01:25:38,257 You can probably tell I've had a drink. 1565 01:25:40,135 --> 01:25:42,511 It's not too many. Just one or two. 1566 01:25:43,930 --> 01:25:47,099 But you believe me, 1567 01:25:49,435 --> 01:25:56,233 when the time comes, I'm gonna be focused and ready for battle. 1568 01:26:00,572 --> 01:26:02,447 Good night, Mr. Frost. 1569 01:26:04,450 --> 01:26:05,784 Good night, 1570 01:26:07,662 --> 01:26:09,329 Mr. President. 1571 01:26:26,431 --> 01:26:29,474 So with or without cheese? I brought burgers. 1572 01:26:30,435 --> 01:26:31,518 David? 1573 01:26:31,603 --> 01:26:32,769 I've got to work. 1574 01:26:35,899 --> 01:26:38,692 Well, who was the asshole that did? 1575 01:26:39,652 --> 01:26:41,445 Jesus, is that Liddy? 1576 01:26:42,447 --> 01:26:43,864 He must be a little nuts. 1577 01:26:43,948 --> 01:26:45,199 Yeah, he is. 1578 01:26:45,283 --> 01:26:47,868 I mean, he just isn't well screwed on, is he? 1579 01:26:47,952 --> 01:26:49,870 Isn't that the problem? 1580 01:26:49,954 --> 01:26:52,456 Yeah, screw the Cabinet and the rest of those. 1581 01:26:52,540 --> 01:26:56,043 But no more sucking around. From now on, they come to me. 1582 01:26:56,127 --> 01:26:58,170 There is one thing that I want done, 1583 01:26:58,254 --> 01:27:00,255 and I don't want any argument about it. 1584 01:27:01,132 --> 01:27:04,218 I want you to direct the most trusted person you have 1585 01:27:04,302 --> 01:27:05,969 in the Immigration Service 1586 01:27:06,054 --> 01:27:10,140 that they are to look over all the activities at the Los Angeles Times. 1587 01:27:10,225 --> 01:27:13,894 All, underlined. And they are to send their teams in to see 1588 01:27:13,978 --> 01:27:16,897 whether they are violating the wetback thing. 1589 01:27:16,981 --> 01:27:18,649 Is that clear? - Yes, sir. 1590 01:27:21,903 --> 01:27:24,613 You open that scab, there's a hell of a lot of things that 1591 01:27:24,697 --> 01:27:27,074 we just feel that it would be very detrimental 1592 01:27:27,158 --> 01:27:29,409 to have this thing go any further. 1593 01:27:36,417 --> 01:27:37,417 Hello? 1594 01:27:37,502 --> 01:27:39,002 Jim, it's David. 1595 01:27:40,129 --> 01:27:42,256 Hey. What time is it? 1596 01:27:42,340 --> 01:27:45,342 How much longer are you gonna be in D.C. for? 1597 01:27:45,426 --> 01:27:46,802 Tuesday. Till Tuesday. 1598 01:27:46,886 --> 01:27:48,971 Great. Well, you remember you mentioned 1599 01:27:49,055 --> 01:27:51,515 going to the Federal Courthouse library? 1600 01:27:51,683 --> 01:27:53,976 Honey, can you check on him, please? 1601 01:27:54,060 --> 01:27:55,852 Yes, for the Colson stuff? 1602 01:27:55,937 --> 01:27:59,147 Well, I've been doing a little light reading this end, 1603 01:28:00,275 --> 01:28:02,943 and you remember that hunch you had about the meeting 1604 01:28:03,027 --> 01:28:04,569 between Nixon and Colson? 1605 01:28:04,654 --> 01:28:06,363 Uh-huh. What are you thinking? 1606 01:28:35,351 --> 01:28:36,810 Hey. Hey. 1607 01:28:36,894 --> 01:28:37,978 Good morning. 1608 01:28:38,062 --> 01:28:39,062 And? 1609 01:28:50,908 --> 01:28:52,951 Excuse me, sir. 1610 01:29:09,427 --> 01:29:11,720 It's 8:30. Bob, have you seen David? 1611 01:29:11,846 --> 01:29:14,139 No. No Frost, no Reston. 1612 01:29:24,317 --> 01:29:27,069 Morning. Good morning. Come on, let's go. 1613 01:29:31,074 --> 01:29:32,783 What's that about? 1614 01:29:40,792 --> 01:29:42,459 First time he's late. 1615 01:29:55,098 --> 01:29:56,932 Mr. President! 1616 01:30:13,699 --> 01:30:14,908 Morning. 1617 01:30:53,489 --> 01:30:54,823 Mr. President. 1618 01:30:55,366 --> 01:30:56,700 Mr. Frost. 1619 01:31:11,549 --> 01:31:13,800 Thirty seconds to tape roll ! 1620 01:31:16,387 --> 01:31:20,765 Thirty seconds. Settling. Settle. 1621 01:31:30,401 --> 01:31:36,448 Well, if today's session is anything like our phone call, it should be explosive. 1622 01:31:37,658 --> 01:31:39,618 What phone call? 1623 01:31:40,119 --> 01:31:42,120 The phone call to my hotel room. 1624 01:31:45,291 --> 01:31:50,712 David, starting on camera three in four, three, two and ... 1625 01:31:57,345 --> 01:32:00,597 Now, looking back on your final year in office, 1626 01:32:00,848 --> 01:32:03,058 do you feel you ever obstructed justice 1627 01:32:03,142 --> 01:32:06,478 or were part of a conspiracy to cover up or obstruct justice? 1628 01:32:06,562 --> 01:32:07,646 No. 1629 01:32:08,606 --> 01:32:13,443 And I'm interested that you used the term "obstruction of justice." 1630 01:32:13,528 --> 01:32:15,612 Now, you perhaps have not read the statute 1631 01:32:15,780 --> 01:32:17,864 with regard to the obstruction of justice. 1632 01:32:17,949 --> 01:32:20,492 As it happens, I have. 1633 01:32:20,576 --> 01:32:27,207 You have, you say? Well, then, you'll know it doesn't just require an act. 1634 01:32:27,291 --> 01:32:30,877 It requires a specific corrupt motive. 1635 01:32:30,962 --> 01:32:34,256 And in this case, I didn't have a corrupt motive. 1636 01:32:34,340 --> 01:32:37,884 What I was doing was in the interests of political containment. 1637 01:32:37,969 --> 01:32:40,136 Be that as it may, the direct consequences 1638 01:32:40,221 --> 01:32:41,805 of your actions would have been 1639 01:32:41,889 --> 01:32:43,557 that two of the convicted burglars 1640 01:32:43,641 --> 01:32:45,517 would have escaped criminal prosecution. 1641 01:32:45,601 --> 01:32:48,895 Now, how can that not be a cover-up or obstruction of justice? 1642 01:32:48,980 --> 01:32:50,730 Well, I think the record shows, Mr. Frost, 1643 01:32:50,815 --> 01:32:54,025 that far from obstructing justice, 1644 01:32:54,110 --> 01:32:56,611 I was actively facilitating it. 1645 01:32:56,696 --> 01:33:01,074 When Pat Gray of the FBI telephoned me, this was July 6, 1646 01:33:01,158 --> 01:33:04,578 I said, "Pat, you go right ahead with your investigation." 1647 01:33:04,662 --> 01:33:06,913 That's hardly what you'd call obstructing justice. 1648 01:33:06,998 --> 01:33:10,083 Well, that may be, but for two weeks prior to July 6, 1649 01:33:10,167 --> 01:33:11,668 we now know that you were desperately 1650 01:33:11,752 --> 01:33:13,169 trying to contain or block the investigation. 1651 01:33:13,254 --> 01:33:14,921 No, no. Hang on a minute there. I wasn't ... 1652 01:33:15,006 --> 01:33:16,798 No, no. Obstruction of justice is obstruction of justice, 1653 01:33:16,882 --> 01:33:18,758 whether it's for a minute or five minutes, 1654 01:33:18,843 --> 01:33:20,885 and it's no defense to say that your plan failed. 1655 01:33:20,970 --> 01:33:23,722 I mean, if I try to rob a bank and fail, that's no defense. 1656 01:33:23,806 --> 01:33:25,265 I still tried to rob the bank. 1657 01:33:25,349 --> 01:33:27,976 Will you just wait one minute there, Mr. Frost? 1658 01:33:28,060 --> 01:33:30,478 There is no evidence of any kind that I was ... 1659 01:33:30,563 --> 01:33:31,980 Well, the reason there is no evidence 1660 01:33:32,064 --> 01:33:33,732 is because 18 and a half minutes 1661 01:33:33,816 --> 01:33:37,027 of the conversation with Bob Haldeman from this June period 1662 01:33:37,111 --> 01:33:38,778 have mysteriously been erased. 1663 01:33:38,863 --> 01:33:41,740 That was an unfortunate oversight. 1664 01:33:41,824 --> 01:33:43,283 And Bob Haldeman is a rigorous 1665 01:33:43,367 --> 01:33:45,869 and a conscientious note taker. 1666 01:33:45,953 --> 01:33:47,787 His notes are there for all to see. 1667 01:33:47,872 --> 01:33:50,624 Well, we found something rather better than his notes, 1668 01:33:50,708 --> 01:33:54,252 a conversation with Charles Colson, 1669 01:33:55,212 --> 01:33:58,131 which I don't think has ever been published. 1670 01:33:59,884 --> 01:34:01,676 Okay, here we go. 1671 01:34:01,761 --> 01:34:03,678 It hasn't been published, you say? 1672 01:34:03,763 --> 01:34:06,890 No, but one of my researchers found it in Washington 1673 01:34:07,516 --> 01:34:10,602 where it's available to anyone who consults the records. 1674 01:34:10,686 --> 01:34:15,315 Well, I just wondered, you know, if we'd seen it. 1675 01:34:15,399 --> 01:34:16,858 More than seen it, Mr. President. 1676 01:34:16,942 --> 01:34:18,610 You spoke the actual words. 1677 01:34:18,694 --> 01:34:22,947 Now, you've always claimed you first learned of the break-in on June 23. 1678 01:34:23,032 --> 01:34:24,074 Yeah. 1679 01:34:24,158 --> 01:34:27,786 But this transcript of a tape made three days earlier 1680 01:34:27,870 --> 01:34:30,330 clearly shows that to be a falsehood. 1681 01:34:30,915 --> 01:34:36,419 Now, in it you say to Colson, "This whole investigation rests 1682 01:34:37,505 --> 01:34:43,009 "unless one of the seven begins to talk. 1683 01:34:45,805 --> 01:34:47,514 "That's the problem." 1684 01:34:47,598 --> 01:34:51,101 Well, what do we mean when we say 1685 01:34:51,185 --> 01:34:53,311 "one of the seven beginning to talk"? 1686 01:34:53,396 --> 01:34:56,690 Then moving on to a conversation you had with John Dean 1687 01:34:56,774 --> 01:34:58,233 on March 21, the following year. 1688 01:34:58,317 --> 01:35:01,277 In one transcript alone, there in black and white, 1689 01:35:01,362 --> 01:35:03,029 I picked out, and these are your words, 1690 01:35:03,114 --> 01:35:06,825 one, "You could get $1 million, and you could get it in cash. 1691 01:35:06,909 --> 01:35:08,326 "I know where it could be gotten." 1692 01:35:08,411 --> 01:35:11,746 Two, "Your major guy to keep under control is Hunt." 1693 01:35:12,331 --> 01:35:15,208 Three, "Don't we have to handle the Hunt situation?" 1694 01:35:15,292 --> 01:35:17,043 Four, "Get the million bucks. 1695 01:35:17,128 --> 01:35:19,587 "It would seem to me that would be worthwhile." 1696 01:35:19,672 --> 01:35:22,465 Five, "Don't you agree that you'd better get the Hunt thing going?" 1697 01:35:22,550 --> 01:35:24,384 Six, "First you've got the Hunt problem. 1698 01:35:24,468 --> 01:35:27,095 "That ought to be handled." Seven, "The money can be provided. 1699 01:35:27,179 --> 01:35:29,639 "Ehrlichman could provide the way to deliver it." 1700 01:35:29,724 --> 01:35:31,391 Eight, "We've no choice with Hunt 1701 01:35:31,475 --> 01:35:34,352 "but the $120,000 or whatever it is, right?" 1702 01:35:34,437 --> 01:35:37,814 Nine, "Christ, turn over any cash we've got." 1703 01:35:37,898 --> 01:35:39,357 And I could go on. Now, it seems to me 1704 01:35:39,442 --> 01:35:41,067 that someone running a cover-up 1705 01:35:41,152 --> 01:35:43,194 couldn't have expressed it more clearly than that, could they? 1706 01:35:43,279 --> 01:35:44,821 Look, let me just stop you now right there, 1707 01:35:44,905 --> 01:35:47,031 because you're doing something here 1708 01:35:47,116 --> 01:35:49,409 which I am not doing, and I will not do 1709 01:35:49,493 --> 01:35:51,745 throughout these entire broadcasts. 1710 01:35:51,829 --> 01:35:53,913 You're quoting me out of context, 1711 01:35:53,998 --> 01:35:56,207 out of order. And I might add, 1712 01:35:56,292 --> 01:35:58,585 I have participated in all these interviews 1713 01:35:58,669 --> 01:36:00,462 without a single note in front of me. 1714 01:36:00,546 --> 01:36:02,046 Well, it is your life, Mr. President. 1715 01:36:02,131 --> 01:36:03,256 Now, you've always maintained 1716 01:36:03,340 --> 01:36:06,217 that you knew nothing about any of this until March 21. 1717 01:36:06,302 --> 01:36:09,846 But in February, your personal lawyer came to Washington 1718 01:36:09,930 --> 01:36:12,974 to start the raising of $219,000 1719 01:36:13,058 --> 01:36:15,059 of hush money to be paid to the burglars. 1720 01:36:15,144 --> 01:36:18,062 Now, do you seriously expect us to believe 1721 01:36:18,147 --> 01:36:19,731 that you had no knowledge of that? 1722 01:36:19,815 --> 01:36:23,109 None. I believed the money was for humanitarian purposes. 1723 01:36:23,194 --> 01:36:25,779 To help disadvantaged people with their defenses. 1724 01:36:25,863 --> 01:36:29,616 Well, it was being delivered on the tops of phone booths with aliases, 1725 01:36:29,700 --> 01:36:31,951 and at airports by people with gloves on. 1726 01:36:32,036 --> 01:36:34,120 That's not normally the way lawyers' fees are delivered, is it? 1727 01:36:34,205 --> 01:36:36,748 Look, I have made statements to this effect before. 1728 01:36:36,832 --> 01:36:39,000 All that was Haldeman and Ehrlichman's business. 1729 01:36:39,084 --> 01:36:41,211 I knew nothing. Okay, fine. Fine! 1730 01:36:41,295 --> 01:36:42,587 You made a conclusion there. 1731 01:36:42,671 --> 01:36:44,255 I stated my view, now let's move on. 1732 01:36:44,340 --> 01:36:45,423 Let's get on to the rest of it. 1733 01:36:45,508 --> 01:36:46,508 No, hold on. No, hold on. 1734 01:36:46,592 --> 01:36:47,592 No, I don't want to talk ... 1735 01:36:47,676 --> 01:36:49,385 If Haldeman and Ehrlichman were the ones really responsible, 1736 01:36:49,470 --> 01:36:52,263 when you subsequently found out about it, 1737 01:36:52,348 --> 01:36:54,390 why didn't you call the police and have them arrested? 1738 01:36:54,475 --> 01:36:56,476 Isn't that just a cover-up of another kind? 1739 01:36:56,560 --> 01:36:58,228 Yeah, maybe I should have done that. Maybe I should have. 1740 01:36:58,312 --> 01:37:00,063 Just called the feds into my office 1741 01:37:00,147 --> 01:37:02,273 and said, "Hey, there's the two men. 1742 01:37:02,358 --> 01:37:03,817 "Haul them down to the dock, 1743 01:37:03,901 --> 01:37:05,985 "fingerprint them and then throw them in the can." 1744 01:37:06,070 --> 01:37:07,153 I'm not made that way. 1745 01:37:07,238 --> 01:37:10,240 These men, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, I knew their families. 1746 01:37:10,324 --> 01:37:12,158 I knew them since they were just kids. 1747 01:37:12,243 --> 01:37:13,535 Yeah, but you know, politically, 1748 01:37:13,619 --> 01:37:16,496 the pressure on me to let them go, that became overwhelming ! 1749 01:37:16,580 --> 01:37:19,415 So I did it. I cut off one arm, 1750 01:37:19,500 --> 01:37:22,210 then I cut off the other, and I'm not a good butcher! 1751 01:37:22,294 --> 01:37:25,171 And I have always maintained what they were doing, 1752 01:37:25,256 --> 01:37:27,507 what we were all doing, was not criminal. 1753 01:37:27,591 --> 01:37:29,133 Look, when you're in office, 1754 01:37:29,218 --> 01:37:32,470 you gotta do a lot of things sometimes that are not always, 1755 01:37:32,555 --> 01:37:36,099 in the strictest sense of the law, legal, but you do them 1756 01:37:36,183 --> 01:37:38,393 because they're in the greater interests of the nation ! 1757 01:37:38,477 --> 01:37:40,186 Right. Wait, just so I understand correctly, 1758 01:37:40,271 --> 01:37:42,981 are you really saying that in certain situations, 1759 01:37:43,065 --> 01:37:46,025 the President can decide whether it's in the best interests of the nation 1760 01:37:46,110 --> 01:37:48,194 and then do something illegal? 1761 01:37:48,279 --> 01:37:53,157 I'm saying that when the President does it, that means it's not illegal. 1762 01:37:55,536 --> 01:37:56,995 I'm sorry? 1763 01:37:57,079 --> 01:37:58,955 That's what I believe. 1764 01:37:59,915 --> 01:38:01,332 Oh, my God. 1765 01:38:06,297 --> 01:38:11,175 But I realize no one else shares that view. 1766 01:38:13,262 --> 01:38:18,266 So, in that case, will you accept, then, 1767 01:38:18,475 --> 01:38:20,977 to clear the air once and for all, 1768 01:38:21,478 --> 01:38:23,646 that you were part of a cover-up 1769 01:38:23,731 --> 01:38:27,150 and that you did break the law? 1770 01:38:36,535 --> 01:38:38,828 Oh, my God, we got him. - I ... 1771 01:38:39,246 --> 01:38:40,455 Shit! 1772 01:38:42,166 --> 01:38:43,583 Okay, let's take a break there. 1773 01:38:43,667 --> 01:38:45,084 What the fuck is going on? 1774 01:38:45,544 --> 01:38:46,753 Cut it. Cut it. 1775 01:38:46,837 --> 01:38:47,837 Excuse me? Shut it down. 1776 01:38:47,963 --> 01:38:48,963 Shut it down now. 1777 01:38:49,048 --> 01:38:51,883 That's not my call. You're gonna have to talk to the director. 1778 01:38:52,009 --> 01:38:53,509 He's in that truck out there. - Get him in here. 1779 01:38:53,594 --> 01:38:55,345 Listen, we have an issue in here. 1780 01:38:55,429 --> 01:38:57,180 Jack, what are you doing? A break? 1781 01:38:57,264 --> 01:38:58,348 Change the tapes. 1782 01:38:58,432 --> 01:38:59,933 David, can I talk to you for a minute, please? 1783 01:39:00,017 --> 01:39:01,517 What the hell is going on, Jack? 1784 01:39:01,685 --> 01:39:03,144 He was about to blow and you know it. 1785 01:39:03,228 --> 01:39:05,313 Fellas, this is a critical moment in his life. 1786 01:39:05,397 --> 01:39:06,439 You realize we could sue you for this? 1787 01:39:06,523 --> 01:39:08,942 You have deliberately sabotaged the interview, Jack. 1788 01:39:09,026 --> 01:39:10,026 Look, we're all in this together. 1789 01:39:10,110 --> 01:39:11,110 I'm sure we can find a solution. 1790 01:39:11,195 --> 01:39:14,113 A solution? What the hell are you talking about? It's an interview! 1791 01:39:14,198 --> 01:39:15,490 Bob, may I remind you ... 1792 01:39:15,574 --> 01:39:17,200 This is a breach of contract. We could sue. 1793 01:39:20,579 --> 01:39:22,705 For heaven's sake, Jim. Why don't you give him a week off? 1794 01:39:22,790 --> 01:39:23,790 Give him a year off! 1795 01:39:23,874 --> 01:39:25,124 Give him a fucking massage! 1796 01:39:25,209 --> 01:39:27,335 Watch your language, for crying out loud. 1797 01:39:42,559 --> 01:39:46,562 What'd you do? Throw in the towel, Jack? 1798 01:39:47,940 --> 01:39:49,941 Did you take pity on me? 1799 01:39:52,403 --> 01:39:54,153 Sir, I just felt that 1800 01:39:55,656 --> 01:39:59,993 if you were going to make some kind of emotional disclosure, 1801 01:40:00,077 --> 01:40:03,287 that we should just take a moment 1802 01:40:03,372 --> 01:40:06,124 to think it through, sketch it out. 1803 01:40:07,084 --> 01:40:09,961 I just want to impress upon you 1804 01:40:10,045 --> 01:40:12,672 how crucially important this moment is 1805 01:40:13,507 --> 01:40:17,760 and how many potentially devastating consequences 1806 01:40:17,845 --> 01:40:20,179 unplanned emotional disclosures could have. 1807 01:40:20,264 --> 01:40:21,514 I know. 1808 01:40:22,641 --> 01:40:26,269 But to go on and carry on denying it all ... 1809 01:40:47,833 --> 01:40:49,834 I appreciate the gesture. 1810 01:40:55,716 --> 01:40:57,759 We ought to call it a snafu. 1811 01:41:07,644 --> 01:41:09,228 Jack, are we on? 1812 01:41:12,149 --> 01:41:13,733 We're on. Okay, he's had plenty of time to cook up 1813 01:41:13,817 --> 01:41:16,069 some sort of slippery new bullshit, so stay on your toes. 1814 01:41:16,153 --> 01:41:19,739 Listen, it's gonna be fine. Pick up where you left off. 1815 01:41:58,821 --> 01:42:01,114 Thirty seconds, everyone. 1816 01:42:12,751 --> 01:42:15,002 Ten seconds. 1817 01:42:20,217 --> 01:42:25,930 David? Four, three, two, and ... 1818 01:42:27,182 --> 01:42:28,808 Mr. President, we were talking about 1819 01:42:28,892 --> 01:42:31,561 the period March 21 to April 30, 1820 01:42:31,645 --> 01:42:35,815 and the mistakes you made, and so on, and I was wondering 1821 01:42:38,110 --> 01:42:41,571 would you go further than "mistakes"? 1822 01:42:41,655 --> 01:42:45,408 The word that seems not enough for people to understand. 1823 01:42:47,703 --> 01:42:50,621 Well, what word would you express? 1824 01:42:58,630 --> 01:43:00,214 My goodness. 1825 01:43:05,053 --> 01:43:06,304 All right. 1826 01:43:07,514 --> 01:43:10,433 Since you've asked me, I think there are three things 1827 01:43:10,517 --> 01:43:13,603 that people would like to hear you say. 1828 01:43:13,687 --> 01:43:18,107 One, that there was probably more than mistakes. 1829 01:43:18,192 --> 01:43:21,110 There was wrongdoing. 1830 01:43:21,195 --> 01:43:24,030 And, yes, it might have been a crime, too. 1831 01:43:25,324 --> 01:43:30,620 Secondly, that "I did abuse the power I had as President." 1832 01:43:32,372 --> 01:43:35,249 And thirdly, "I put the American people 1833 01:43:35,334 --> 01:43:38,169 "through two years of needless agony, 1834 01:43:39,129 --> 01:43:42,757 "and I apologize for that." And I know how difficult it is 1835 01:43:43,175 --> 01:43:46,469 for anyone, especially you, 1836 01:43:47,846 --> 01:43:51,724 but I think the people need to hear it. 1837 01:43:51,808 --> 01:43:54,644 And I think that unless you say it, 1838 01:43:55,812 --> 01:43:59,273 you're going to be haunted for the rest of your life. 1839 01:44:03,070 --> 01:44:09,075 Well, it's true. I made mistakes, horrendous ones, 1840 01:44:10,827 --> 01:44:14,121 ones that were not worthy of a president, 1841 01:44:16,124 --> 01:44:19,001 ones that did not meet the standards of excellence 1842 01:44:19,086 --> 01:44:22,880 that I always dreamed of as a young boy. 1843 01:44:22,965 --> 01:44:28,636 But, if you remember, it was a difficult time. 1844 01:44:29,680 --> 01:44:33,683 I was caught up in a five-front war 1845 01:44:34,184 --> 01:44:37,853 against a partisan media, a partisan House of Congress, 1846 01:44:37,938 --> 01:44:40,648 a partisan Ervin Committee. 1847 01:44:42,150 --> 01:44:45,903 But, yes, I will admit there were times 1848 01:44:45,988 --> 01:44:49,115 I did not fully meet that responsibility 1849 01:44:49,199 --> 01:44:53,995 and I was involved in a cover-up, as you call it. 1850 01:44:54,663 --> 01:44:58,666 And for all those mistakes I have a very deep regret. 1851 01:45:02,421 --> 01:45:06,173 No one can know what it's like to resign the presidency. 1852 01:45:08,176 --> 01:45:09,260 Now, 1853 01:45:11,054 --> 01:45:15,766 if you want me to get down on the floor and grovel ... 1854 01:45:16,893 --> 01:45:19,395 No! Never! 1855 01:45:21,064 --> 01:45:23,441 I still insist they were mistakes of the heart. 1856 01:45:23,525 --> 01:45:25,067 They were not mistakes of the head. 1857 01:45:25,152 --> 01:45:28,863 But they were my mistakes. I don't blame anybody. 1858 01:45:29,990 --> 01:45:32,074 I brought myself down. 1859 01:45:34,161 --> 01:45:38,831 I gave them a sword, and they stuck it in, 1860 01:45:38,915 --> 01:45:42,543 and they twisted it with relish. 1861 01:45:43,545 --> 01:45:47,798 And I guess if I'd been in their place, I'd have done the same thing. 1862 01:45:48,091 --> 01:45:50,509 And the American people? 1863 01:46:09,488 --> 01:46:11,238 I let them down. 1864 01:46:13,867 --> 01:46:16,118 I let down my friends. 1865 01:46:18,955 --> 01:46:23,667 I let down the country. 1866 01:46:27,547 --> 01:46:29,215 And worst of all, 1867 01:46:32,719 --> 01:46:35,513 I let down our system of government. 1868 01:46:37,140 --> 01:46:39,558 And the dreams of all those young people 1869 01:46:39,643 --> 01:46:41,560 that ought to get into government, 1870 01:46:41,645 --> 01:46:45,898 but now they think, "It's all too corrupt," and the rest. 1871 01:46:47,317 --> 01:46:48,401 Yeah. 1872 01:46:54,408 --> 01:46:56,992 I let the American people down, 1873 01:47:01,373 --> 01:47:04,542 and I'm gonna have to carry that burden with me 1874 01:47:06,169 --> 01:47:08,170 for the rest of my life. 1875 01:47:19,891 --> 01:47:22,309 My political life is over. 1876 01:47:50,213 --> 01:47:54,425 You know, the first and greatest sin or deception of television 1877 01:47:54,509 --> 01:47:57,970 is that it simplifies, it diminishes, 1878 01:47:58,263 --> 01:48:02,725 great, complex ideas, tranches of time. 1879 01:48:03,560 --> 01:48:07,730 Whole careers become reduced to a single snapshot. 1880 01:48:08,732 --> 01:48:10,900 At first, I couldn't understand why 1881 01:48:10,984 --> 01:48:13,319 Bob Zelnick was quite as euphoric 1882 01:48:13,403 --> 01:48:15,613 as he was after the interviews, 1883 01:48:18,450 --> 01:48:22,203 or why John Birt felt moved to strip naked 1884 01:48:22,287 --> 01:48:25,164 and rush into the ocean to celebrate. 1885 01:48:25,248 --> 01:48:29,919 But that was before I really understood 1886 01:48:30,003 --> 01:48:32,796 the reductive power of the close-up. 1887 01:48:32,881 --> 01:48:36,717 Because David had succeeded on that final day 1888 01:48:36,801 --> 01:48:38,594 in getting, for a fleeting moment, 1889 01:48:38,678 --> 01:48:40,179 what no investigative journalist, 1890 01:48:40,263 --> 01:48:43,974 no state prosecutor, no judiciary committee 1891 01:48:44,059 --> 01:48:47,228 or political enemy had managed to get. 1892 01:48:47,437 --> 01:48:49,813 Richard Nixon's face, 1893 01:48:49,898 --> 01:48:55,569 swollen and ravaged by loneliness, self-loathing and defeat. 1894 01:48:56,988 --> 01:49:00,699 The rest of the project and its failings would not only be forgotten, 1895 01:49:00,784 --> 01:49:03,035 they would totally cease to exist. 1896 01:49:10,752 --> 01:49:13,295 Who came out on top, Mr. President? 1897 01:49:33,066 --> 01:49:35,401 Is this what you call a dachshund? 1898 01:49:35,485 --> 01:49:36,652 Mmm-hmm. 1899 01:49:45,120 --> 01:49:46,453 Very sweet. 1900 01:50:17,444 --> 01:50:20,446 The Nixon/Frost interviews were wildly successful. 1901 01:50:20,530 --> 01:50:23,115 I think they attracted the largest audience for a news program 1902 01:50:23,199 --> 01:50:24,867 in the history of American television. 1903 01:50:24,951 --> 01:50:28,078 David was on the cover of Time magazine and Newsweek magazine. 1904 01:50:28,163 --> 01:50:29,413 And even the political press corps, 1905 01:50:29,497 --> 01:50:30,664 the hard-bitten political press corps, 1906 01:50:30,749 --> 01:50:33,709 called David up with messages of contrition and congratulation. 1907 01:50:33,793 --> 01:50:36,003 David, I want to say congratulations. 1908 01:50:36,087 --> 01:50:37,921 The interviews? 1909 01:50:38,006 --> 01:50:41,425 No, I didn't watch them. I couldn't. 1910 01:50:43,803 --> 01:50:44,803 Hey. 1911 01:50:46,681 --> 01:50:47,848 Hello. 1912 01:50:55,565 --> 01:50:58,817 I believe David saw the former President just one more time. 1913 01:50:58,902 --> 01:51:00,694 Before he left California for London again, 1914 01:51:00,779 --> 01:51:03,405 he drove down to San Clemente to say goodbye. 1915 01:51:15,585 --> 01:51:18,796 Hey, Mr. Frost. It's nice to see you. 1916 01:51:19,756 --> 01:51:21,298 Miss Cushing. Hello. 1917 01:51:22,467 --> 01:51:24,593 Please excuse my golf outfit. 1918 01:51:24,678 --> 01:51:27,638 It's the official uniform of the retired. 1919 01:51:29,099 --> 01:51:30,557 Are you on your way home? 1920 01:51:30,642 --> 01:51:31,850 Yes. 1921 01:51:31,935 --> 01:51:37,022 Into a bright new dawn of fresh enterprises and challenges, eh? 1922 01:51:37,107 --> 01:51:38,315 Well, let's hope so. 1923 01:51:38,400 --> 01:51:39,566 Good for you. 1924 01:51:39,651 --> 01:51:42,569 I didn't catch the interviews as they went out, 1925 01:51:42,654 --> 01:51:46,281 but they tell me that they were a great success. 1926 01:51:46,366 --> 01:51:50,077 I gather the journalists that were so positive 1927 01:51:50,161 --> 01:51:53,163 about you weren't so kind to me. 1928 01:51:53,248 --> 01:51:56,250 Yes, I was sorry to see that. 1929 01:51:56,918 --> 01:51:59,169 There's no condolences necessary. 1930 01:51:59,254 --> 01:52:01,797 I've grown to expect nothing else from those sons of whores. 1931 01:52:01,881 --> 01:52:03,590 Yeah. 1932 01:52:03,675 --> 01:52:06,844 Jeez, please forgive me, Miss Cushing. 1933 01:52:07,262 --> 01:52:10,389 You know, I would've said "sons of bitches," 1934 01:52:10,473 --> 01:52:13,100 but Manolo here is a lover of dogs, 1935 01:52:13,184 --> 01:52:15,477 and he hates me to defame animals. 1936 01:52:15,979 --> 01:52:17,563 Can I get something for somebody? 1937 01:52:17,647 --> 01:52:20,065 Yes. Would you like some tea or champagne? 1938 01:52:20,150 --> 01:52:23,402 Hey, you know, we got that caviar the Shah of Iran sent me. 1939 01:52:23,486 --> 01:52:24,528 No, thank you. You sure? 1940 01:52:24,612 --> 01:52:25,904 Come on. It'll be no trouble at all. 1941 01:52:25,989 --> 01:52:27,197 No, really, we must be ... 1942 01:52:27,282 --> 01:52:30,993 Okay, fine, fine. Thanks for coming by. 1943 01:52:34,038 --> 01:52:36,290 You were a worthy opponent. 1944 01:52:38,293 --> 01:52:39,418 Goodbye, Mr. President. 1945 01:52:39,502 --> 01:52:40,794 Bye-bye. 1946 01:52:40,879 --> 01:52:42,254 Goodbye, Mr. President. 1947 01:52:42,338 --> 01:52:43,380 Goodbye. 1948 01:52:45,133 --> 01:52:47,760 Oh, God ! I almost forgot. I ... 1949 01:52:48,762 --> 01:52:54,683 I brought you a present, those shoes you admired. 1950 01:52:54,976 --> 01:52:56,727 I brought you a pair. 1951 01:52:57,896 --> 01:53:00,898 Well, jeez. Thank you. 1952 01:53:05,612 --> 01:53:10,783 I'm touched. Safe trip, now. 1953 01:53:15,163 --> 01:53:20,876 Oh ! Say, David, you think I could speak to you, privately, just for a minute? 1954 01:53:32,222 --> 01:53:34,807 Do you know those parties of yours? 1955 01:53:34,891 --> 01:53:37,351 The ones that I read about in all the papers? 1956 01:53:37,435 --> 01:53:40,187 Do you actually enjoy those? 1957 01:53:41,064 --> 01:53:42,439 Of course. 1958 01:53:43,983 --> 01:53:47,903 You got no idea how fortunate that makes you. 1959 01:53:49,072 --> 01:53:53,325 You know? Liking people, and being liked. 1960 01:53:53,409 --> 01:53:58,080 Having that facility, that lightness, that charm. 1961 01:53:59,582 --> 01:54:02,000 I don't have it. I never did. 1962 01:54:02,794 --> 01:54:05,629 It kind of makes you wonder why I chose a life 1963 01:54:05,713 --> 01:54:08,799 that hinged on being liked. 1964 01:54:09,092 --> 01:54:12,511 I'm better suited to a life of thought, 1965 01:54:12,595 --> 01:54:14,805 debate, intellectual discipline. 1966 01:54:15,849 --> 01:54:17,057 Maybe we got it wrong. 1967 01:54:17,141 --> 01:54:19,017 Maybe you should have been a politician 1968 01:54:19,102 --> 01:54:21,436 and I the rigorous interviewer. 1969 01:54:22,063 --> 01:54:23,313 Maybe. 1970 01:54:24,774 --> 01:54:25,899 David. 1971 01:54:28,236 --> 01:54:31,697 Did I really call you that night? 1972 01:54:34,033 --> 01:54:35,242 Yes. 1973 01:54:36,119 --> 01:54:39,955 Did we discuss anything important? 1974 01:54:44,252 --> 01:54:45,711 Cheeseburgers. 1975 01:54:48,131 --> 01:54:49,673 Cheeseburgers? 1976 01:54:55,388 --> 01:54:56,889 Goodbye, sir. 1977 01:55:07,066 --> 01:55:09,234 Well, New York, London and Sydney 1978 01:55:09,319 --> 01:55:11,737 welcomed David back with open arms, 1979 01:55:11,821 --> 01:55:13,530 as did his friends and investors, 1980 01:55:13,615 --> 01:55:16,074 who've made a fortune from these interviews. 1981 01:55:16,159 --> 01:55:17,743 He got back all of his shows. 1982 01:55:17,827 --> 01:55:20,078 He even got back his table at Sardi's. 1983 01:55:20,830 --> 01:55:22,205 As for Richard Nixon, 1984 01:55:22,290 --> 01:55:23,498 well, he certainly never achieved 1985 01:55:23,583 --> 01:55:26,251 the rehabilitation he so desperately craved. 1986 01:55:26,336 --> 01:55:28,503 His most lasting legacy 1987 01:55:28,588 --> 01:55:31,381 is that today any political wrongdoing 1988 01:55:31,507 --> 01:55:34,301 is immediately given the suffix "gate."