Skip to main content

tv   The Sixties  CNN  August 30, 2014 7:00pm-8:01pm PDT

7:00 pm
>> in an average man's life there are two or three emotional experiences burned into his heart and his brain. and no matter what happens to me, i'll remember november 22nd as long as i live. >> there has been an attempt on the life of president kennedy. >> they are combing the floors of the texas book depository building to find the assassin. >> did you shoot the president? >> i'm just a patsy. >> oswald has been shot at point blank range, fired into his stomach. >> police are working on the assumption that oswald's murder was to shut him up. >> elements of the central
7:01 pm
intelligence agency killed john kennedy. >> a story that has been suppressed. witnesses have been killed. we have a right to know who killed our president and why he died. ♪
7:02 pm
in dallas, preparations were already under way for extraordinary police protection when the president should arrive. >> do you anticipate any trouble on the president's arrival? >> because of what has happened here previously, we would be foolish, i think, not to anticipate some trouble. i don't -- really i don't anticipate any violence. >> here comes air force number one, the president's plane now touching down. there is mrs. kennedy, and the crowd yells. and the president of the united states. >> looking at how things actually went, it wasn't just a trip to dallas, it was a political trip preparing for the 1964 elections.
7:03 pm
>> and here comes the president now. he has departed the limousine. he is reaching across the fence shaking hands. >> in those days everybody could get a lot closer to the president. i was standing behind mrs. kennedy and i saw a hand reach through the chain linked fence and break off one of the red roses. >> thousands of children trying to get over the fence. the dallas police trying to keep them back. >> it's great for the people and makes the egg shells even thinner for the secret service whose job it is to guard the man. >> the trip had gone terrifically well in texas. pretty hard to write a script for it going any better. >> thousands will be on hand for that motorcade now which will be downtown dallas. >> a number of my classmates were gone. they were at the parade. my father had been invited to have lumplg with kennedy at the trade center. there was a mood, a climate of excitement. >> the speech of president
7:04 pm
kennedy at the dallas trademark will be broadcast. stay tune for the dallas speech at the trade mart on 570 radio. ♪ ♪ work hard in the daytime rest easy at night ♪ ♪ big boss man won't you hear me when i call ♪ ♪ yeah big boss man won't you hear me when i call ♪ ♪ well you ain't so big you just tall and that's all ♪ >> this bulletin just into the news. three shots were fired at the motorcade of president kennedy today in downtown dallas. >> police radios are carrying that the president has been hit. >> parkland hospital has been
7:05 pm
advised to stand by for a severe gunshot wound. >> this is walter cronkite, in our newsroom. and -- there has been an attempt on the life of president kennedy. >> just turn the mic on. i can't hear you, johnny. what do you want? you want me to move back a little bit. is it all right now? is this all right? ladies and gentlemen, i would like to introduce to you the chief cameraman and assistant news director. bert, we have brought the people pretty much up to date. would you tell them exactly what you know as of this point? >> well, jay, i was standing at the trade mart, waiting for his arrival there. all of a sudden we saw them approaching. they didn't slow down, as a matter of fact, they were going 70, 80 miles an hour past us. and then i jumped into a police car and went to parkland.
7:06 pm
>> these two men came running in. one had a large machine gun and they were hollering for stretchers and cots and everything. >> what happened after this? >> then the president came in behind him and they took both of them both of them back. >> albert thomas, democrat of texas, is standing outside the corridor of the emergency room, said he has been told the president was still alive but in very critical condition. >> two priests who were with president kennedy say he is dead. >> a bullet wounds. this is the latest information we have from dallas. i will repeat with the greatest regret, two priests who were with president kennedy say he has died of bullet wounds. >> malcolm, the assistant press secretary, was filling in for the regular press secretary.
7:07 pm
and then he had to draw himself up to give the most fateful announcement that a press secretary might have ever had to give. >> all the cameras were rolling. i remember he put his fingers like this on the desk and pressed very hard to stop his hands trembling. >> john f. kennedy died at approximately 1:00 central standard time today. here in dallas. he died of gunshot wounds in the brain. >> where is he now? i have no other details regarding the assassination of the president.
7:08 pm
veggies you're cool... reworking the menu. mayo, corn dogs...you are so out of here! ahh... the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals.
7:09 pm
9 grams of protein... with 30% less sugars than before. ensure, your #1 dr. recommended brand now introduces ensure active. muscle health. clear protein drink and high protein. targeted nutrition to feed your active life. ensure. take life in. crestor lowered bad cholesterol in it's a fact. high-risk patients more than lipitor. bad cholesterol... you're going down! yeah! lowering cholesterol is a big deal, especially if you have high cholesterol plus any of these risk factors, because you could be at increased risk for plaque buildup in your arteries over time. so, when diet and exercise aren't enough to lower cholesterol, adding crestor can help. i'm down with crestor! crestor is not right for everyone, like people with liver disease or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. tell your doctor about other medicines you're taking. call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired;
7:10 pm
have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of rare but serious side effects. are you down with crestor!? ask your doctor if crestor could help you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.
7:11 pm
i just can't believe it. i feel like someone in my own family has died. i just can't believe it. >> ma'am? >> i can't -- like a daze, you don't know what is going on. why? why did it happen? who would have done such a is the question. >> in the first minutes and hours, chaos and confusion was radiating out from the scene itself. it was very pervasive. >> the secret service agents thought the gunfire came from an automatic weapon fired possibly from a grassy knoll. >> i saw some police running up the grassy surface. i thought, they were chasing a gunman. i ran with them. i got to the top. looked around. the policeman went over the fence so i went over the fence,
7:12 pm
too. there was nothing there. >> television newsman said he looked up just after the shot was fired and saw a rifle being withdrawn from a 50fifth or six floor window. it was originally thought that the shots came from here but now it's believed that the shots came from this building here. they are going to continue saeching for that building. >> the center of downtown dallas is in a virtual state of siege. they are combing the floors of the dispostory building in an effort to find the suspected assass assassin. >> in the building on the sixth floor we found an area that is partially blocked off by boxes of books and also the three spent shells that apparently fired from a rifle. >> crime lab lieutenant just came out of that building with a british 303 rifle. >> it was a 7.65 mouser.
7:13 pm
>> high-powered army or japanese rifle of .25 caliber. >> a .3030 rifle. >> much of the first things you hear are going to be wrong. and to some degree, you are constantly trying to separate out what seems to be a fact. >> in dallas a dallas policeman just a short while ago was shot and killed while chasing a suspect. >> j.d. tippit, a good experienced police officer, was shot three times in the chest, in the oak cliff section of dallas. then the manager of the shoe store saw the suspect, walked into the texas theater. >> someone has been arrested in one of the downtown theaters. they don't know if it was the man who shot the policeman or the person who actually shot president kennedy. >> this is a picture of him. he probably does not look exactly like this now after he
7:14 pm
had been questioned. that's lee oswald. >> the president was shot and the police officer was shot. someone named lee harvey oswald was arrested. >> a former marine who spent some time in russia. who at one time applied for a soviet sieviet citizenship. >> he was similar to the description that we had and the man we were looking for as the assass assassin. but at that time we had not been able to connect the two in any way. >> now, a great deal of confusion. mr. oswald -- through the door. i don't know if you saw him. oswald is at 1026 north mekly. he's an employee of a book binding firm in the building which the police and secret servicemen believe the president was shot today.
7:15 pm
>> mrs. kennedy accompanied the body in an ambulance to the airport where it will be flown back to washington. >> lyndon johnson had ordered that the body be brought immediately to air force one. so there was a little tug of war. they almost shook the crucifix off the top of the coffin as they were trying to get that coffin out of the hospital. >> to board an airliner before flying back to the nation's capitol. >> johnson wanted to show the american people that the government was functioning without interruption. also perhaps he wanted to show that his predecessor's family bore him no ill will of the assassination.
7:16 pm
>> lyndon johnson is flying back to washington to take the reins of government, at which time president johnson will have to take into his hands the reins of the most powerful nation in the world. >> is there any doubt in your mind, chief, that oswald killed the president? >> i think this is the man that killed the president, yes. >> at this time we don't believe so. >> i don't know what this is all about. >> did you kill the president? >> no, sir, i didn't. >> sir? >> did you shoot the president? >> i work in that building. >> were you in that building at the time? >> naturally if i work in that building, yes, sir. >> back up, man. >> no, they're taking me in because of the fact that i live in -- >> did you shoot the president? >> i'm just a patsy. >> this is room 317, homicide
7:17 pm
bureau here at the dallas police station. as you see, they are bringing the weapon allegedly used in the assassination of president john f. kennedy this afternoon at 12:30 here in dallas. >> 6.5 made in italy in 1940. >> in the wake of the kennedy assassination, the dallas policeman, on one hand they were committing all of their resources to try and solve the crime. on the other hand they were ill equipped to handle the tsunami of reporters. >> well, i was questioned by a judge, but i protested at that time that i was not allowed legal representation. >> in bringing oswald out, they were of course doing something that you would never see happen today, but they were trying to
7:18 pm
cooperate with the press, with the understanding that there would not be questions shouted to him. >> did you kill the president? >> you have been charged. >> sir? >> you have been charged? >> nobody said what? >> okay. >> what did you do in russia? >> oswald. >> how did you hurt your eye? >> a policeman hit me. >> at 1:35 this morning, a complaint was read. it charged that quote, lee harvey oswald did voluntarily and with malice aforethought kill john f. kennedy by shooting him with a gun end quote following the reading of the complaint, oswald said, that's ridiculous.
7:19 pm
♪ sweet, sweet st. thomas nice ♪ so nice, so ni-i-i-ce ♪ st. croix, full of pure vibes ♪ ♪ so nice, so ni-i-i-ce ♪ st. john, a real paradise ♪ so nice, so ni-i-i-ce ♪ proud to be from the virgin islands ♪ ♪ and the whole place nice to experience your virgin islands nice, book one of our summer packages today. say "hi" rudy. [ barks ] [ chuckles ] i'd do anything to keep this guy happy and healthy. that's why i'm so excited about these new milk-bone brushing chews. whoa, i'm not the only one. it's a brilliant new way to take care of his teeth. clinically proven as effective as brushing. ok, here you go. have you ever seen a dog brush his own teeth? the twist and nub design cleans all the way down to the gum line, even reaching the back teeth. they taste like a treat, but they clean like a toothbrush. nothing says you care like a milk-bone brushing chew. [ barks ]
7:20 pm
7:21 pm
7:22 pm
chief, can you tell us in summery what directly links oswald to the killing of the president? >> well, the fact that he was on the floor where the shots were fired from immediately before the shots were fired, the fact he was seen carrying a package to the building, the fact that -- >> when was he carrying that package? >> yesterday morning. >> during 12 hours of interrogation, the dallas police department over the weekend, he told one provable lie after another. >> did you buy that rifle? >> that's the facts you people have been given but i emphatically deny these charges. >> within a day or so thereafter
7:23 pm
when they discovered what a complete nut this guy was, they were satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that oswald had acted alone. >> there's only one thing i can tell you without going into the evidence that this case is cinched, that this man killed the president. there is no question in my mind about it. >> we plan to transfer this man, not tonight, the van will be here by no later than 10:00 in the morning. why, it will -- that will be early enough for him. >> chief, do you have any concern for the safety of your prisoner in due of the high feeling of the people in dallas over the assassination of the president? >> no, but cautions will be taken, of course. but i don't they the people will try to take the prisoner away from us. >> we're standing by waiting the transfer of oswald from city
7:24 pm
jail to county jail and for that report, here is abc's bill lord at the city jail. bill, what is the situation? >> i'm presently in the basement of the dallas municipal building, and it's like an armed camp. police officials are frankly worried. they don't want anything to happen to oswald. >> it is through this corridor of newsmen, photographers and policemen that lee oswald will be brought to a vehicle for transfer to the dallas county jail, a distance of about 15 blocks, which ironically is just across from the scene where president kennedy was assassinated on friday. >> there is lee. he's been shot. he's been shot. lee oswald has been shot. there is a man with a gun. it's absolute panic. absolute panic here in the basement of the dallas police headquarters. detectives have their guns drawn. there is no question about it. oswald has been shot at point blank range fired into his stomach.
7:25 pm
>> he is shot. he is shot. oswald -- >> it is oswald. >> did he shoot the man? >> or do you know? >> that's the man that shot the man. >> immediately after the shooting, our only witnesses that we could talk to were other reporters. >> where did he go, pierre? >> he was here. they just put the gun there. i saw the flash on the black sweater. >> did you see the gun to his stomach? >> i saw right here. he was in a group of men right here. >> masquerading as one of us or what? >> i thought he was one of the detectives. he had a hat. >> the situation is now that lee harold oswald has been shot. the man who saw the shot fired said it was fired by a man wearing a black hat, a brown coat, a man that everyone down here thought was a secret service agent. we can hear sirens outside and ambulance apparently is moving down now into the basement.
7:26 pm
here comes the ambulance. and oswald will be removed now. the ambulance is being pulled up in front of us here. here comes oswald, he's -- he is ashen and unconscious at this time, now being moved in. he is not moving. he's in the ambulance now. attendants, police are quickly moving in. the ambulance is leaving dallas police headquarters. where will he be taken? >> i'm assuming parkland hospital. >> parkland hospital. ironies of ironies, the place where john f. kennedy died. >> dallas city hall is normally a public building, but today it was really under armed guard.
7:27 pm
>> we -- is this a confirmed report as to who did the shooting? >> as far as i know. i just got it from vic robertson. >> vic robertson from city hall hall reports that jack ruby, the owner of the carousal, which is a bar in dallas, did the shooting. >> my statement will be very brief. oswald expired at 1:07 p.m. >> he died? >> he died at 1:07 p.m. we have arrested the man. the man will be charged with murder. >> who is he? >> the man -- the suspect's name is jack rubenstein, i believe. he goes by the name of jack ruby. >> and here at associated press, a still picture of the moment, the splint second as the shot
7:28 pm
was fired. this is the man dallas police have identified as jack rubenstein and this of course is lee harvey oswald. you see the gun in the hand of ruby and just about to be fired. >> i know my own feelings were and i think they were widely shared by many, if not most americans. this can't be coincidental. the assassin is assassinated in the police station. what in the hell is going on? >> just learned from city hall from an authoritative source, that police are working on the assumption that there, indeed, a connection between jack ruby and lee oswald. and that in some manner of speaking, oswald's murder was to shut him up. >> word also in just now from dallas that homicide chief captain will fritz has now said that the case of president
7:29 pm
kennedy's assassination is closed with the death of oswald. it may not be the opinion of the secret service or the federal bureau of investigation. aine, i was lucky. that sounds crazy, i know. but my mom got migraines, so she knew this would help. excedrin migraine starts to relieve my pain in 30 minutes. plus, sensitivity to light and sound, even nausea. excedrin migraine works.
7:30 pm
7:31 pm
7:32 pm
our nation is bereaved.
7:33 pm
the whole world is poorer because of his loss but we can all be better americans because john fitzgerald kennedy has passed our way. because he has been our chosen leader at a time in history when his character, his vision and his quiet courage have enabled him to chart a course for us, a safe course for us through the shoals of treacherous seas that encompass the world. and now that he is relieved of the almost superhuman burden may he rest in peace. >> my fellow americans, all i have, i would have given gladly
7:34 pm
not to be standing here today. >> johnson knows he has to show the country that the ship of state is sailing on under the new captain. but at the same time, he can't appear to be too anxious to assume power and he has to keep the kennedy people on board with him. so that speech means everything. >> no words are strong enough to express our determination to continue the forward thrust of america that he began. [ applause ] >> investigations into all the facts of these last four days may not be limited to the state of texas or the fbi. some congressmen already have suggested a congressional investigation. >> johnson realizes something has to be done. he realizes that he has to
7:35 pm
appoint a body that the public will respect to look into this. >> the warren commission appointed friday night will investigate and make a report on the murder. as yet it has said nothing about how it will proceed or when. >> let's see. the time of day was about -- well we're not very far, two hours from it. >> the lawyers from the commission took 395 depositions, and there were 94 witnesses that appeared before the commission. >> can you say if you still think it was one man? >> i think we'd better not get into that area, you know. the report will cover all of that in great detail. >> it is now 15 seconds after 6:30 p.m. eastern daylight time, sunday, september the 27th. as of this moment, the report of the president's commission is
7:36 pm
public record. for the next half hour, we will search it for answers. first must come the answers to the two great overriding questions. who killed john f. kennedy? the commission answered unequivocally lee harvey oswald. was oswald acting alone or was he a member of a conspiracy? the commission answers he acted alone. >> the media had all concluded that this was the most exhaustive investigation, case closed. oswald did it alone. >> the commission concludes that three shots were fired. all of them from this sixth floor window in the texas school book depository. >> the reaction to the report initially was very positive, but that didn't last very long. >> this book is the number one best seller on the nonfiction list in the country "rush to judgment" by mark lane. it's gained a vast number of readers in the recent groundswell of skepticism about the findings of the warren report.
7:37 pm
>> you are part of the media which prevented the american people from finding out what happened. >> you are alarming the american people! >> i say the american public should be alarmed. >> the public had been kept in the dark for so long about this, but had an undying thirst, which could only be quenched by getting facts. >> at the start, lane was almost alone. now he's just one among a growing band of doubters. their books and articles are on the newsstands, they're in the supermarkets. now according to a recent poll, only one in three americans remains convinced that the warren report has the whole story. >> because of the conspiracy theories, who have put this case under a high-powered microscope, splitting hairs and then proceeding to split the split hairs. the kennedy case is now the most complex murder case by far in
7:38 pm
world history. nothing even remotely comes close. >> the warren report said that lee harvey oswald shot the president from his window in the texas school book depository. three years after kennedy's assassination, the major question is still a simple one. did the warren commission, with all that time and all these resources, get its answers right? tonight, we'll go over those arguments one by one, area by area. as the assassination was taking place, a dallas businessman called abraham zapruder stood behind that low concrete wall looking down at elm street. >> as the president was coming down from houston street and making his turn, it was about halfway down there, i heard a shot. and i heard another shot or two. i couldn't say whether it was one or two. and i saw his head practically open up, all blood and everything. and i kept on shooting.
7:39 pm
>> where did the shots come from? if the shots did not all come from the book depository window, then there was most likely some form of conspiracy. >> i think that the massive head wound where the president's head was literally blown apart came from a quartering angle on the grassy knoll, it struck and his head doesn't go directly back this way but it goes back and over this way, which would be consistent with the shot from that direction and newton's law of motion. unless the laws of physics were not working that day, the reaction of the president tells us where that shot came from. >> some critics say by the very fact that in the picture, you can clearly see the explosion of the bullet on the front side of the president, that that certainly indicates the bullet came from the front. >> well, i don't believe any physicist has ever said that. quite contrary, it does indicate that the bullet was coming from behind. it's a minor explosion where pieces of material go generally
7:40 pm
in the direction of the bullet. >> if you look at the individual frames of the zapruder film, at 312, frame 312, the president's head's okay. at frame 313, 1/18th of a second later, the president is struck in the head. and what direction is the president's head pushed? not backwards, but slightly forward. >> is there any doubt that the wound at the back of the president's head was the entry wound? >> i would hesitate really to say that it is absolutely 100% impossible. but it is highly improbable. >> could a single bullet have wounded both president kennedy and governor connally? the single bullet theory has perhaps become the most controversial aspect of the report. >> if one bullet couldn't shoot men, it meant there were two shooters and there was a conspiracy. >> the conspiracy theorists claim that the second shot was a magic bullet. they argue that a bullet would
7:41 pm
have had to make a right turn and then a left turn in mid-air. the reality is that connally was not seated directly in front of kennedy. >> if you figure out the alignment of where the men sat, and if you look down as i did it is perfectly plain, i submit to you, and as the others did who conducted the on-site tests, and had the automobile placed in the position, it is perfectly plain, i submit to you, that the bullet that exited from president kennedy's throat would have to strike either the automobile, which it did not, or someone else in the automobile. >> to believe that it didn't hit governor connally, that would be a real magic bullet, one that a real magic bullet, one that disappeared in thin air. me to r happy anniversary. [ cortana ] next time you talk to caroline, i'll remind you. [ siri ] oh no, i cannot do that. oh, and remind me to get roses when i'm near any flower shop. sure thing. remind you when you get to flower shop. i can't do that either. cortana, it's gonna be a great night. [ beep ] oh wow! thanks for the traffic alert. i better get going. now that is a smart phone. ♪ oh, wait
7:42 pm
♪ it's 'cause you make me smile ♪ ♪ oh, wait veggies you're cool... reworking the menu. mayo, corn dogs...you are so out of here! ahh... the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals. 9 grams of protein... with 30% less sugars than before. ensure, your #1 dr. recommended brand now introduces ensure active. muscle health. clear protein drink and high protein. targeted nutrition to feed your active life. ensure. take life in. the summer of this.mmer. the summer that summers from here on will be compared to. where memories will be forged into the sand. and then hung on a wall for years to come. get out there, with over 50,000 hotels at $150 dollars or less.
7:43 pm
expedia. find yours. this is bill. his doubleheader day at the park starts with back pain... and a choice. take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. peanuts! peanuts! crowd cheers! ...of america's number-one puppy food brand... ...with dha and essential nutrients also found in mother's milk. purina puppy chow.
7:44 pm
7:45 pm
i believe that jack ruby was a paid killer to close the mouth of my son, lee harvey oswald. >> because ruby knew people in criminal activities, there was a lot of investigation about a potential conspiracy. >> ruby would have been one of the most unlikely and worst hit men that the mob could ever get. >> on november the 24th, 1963, lee harvey oswald is supposed to
7:46 pm
have been transferred at 10:00. at 10:00, the evidence is undisputed that jack ruby was at home asleep. then he got dressed and drove downtown. >> the receipt shows that ruby was sending a money order to one of his strippers from a western union office across from the courthouse at 11:17 a.m. >> we know that at 11:20, three minutes later, a block away, jack ruby killed lee harvey oswald. the evidence showed that he was down there anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds. 5 to 15 seconds. if this is a hired assassin who is supposed to have some advanced information, he is the world's best timer. >> jack ruby was a police and media groupie. ruby thought he was our friend. >> ruby's act was that of a vigilante. he wanted nothing more to be known -- people to flock to his nightclub to shake the hand of the man who killed the man who killed the president.
7:47 pm
>> i don't want to get involved in that but i will say there's no question about the fact that there was a plot and there were a number of individuals involved. >> in 1967, he announced "i've solved the case. i've found the real assassin." >> we will make arrests based on that, and we will make charges based on that, and we will obtain convictions based on that. >> now, you wouldn't have paid much attention to this, except he was district attorney of new orleans. >> i've spent hour after hour with jim garrison. he has presented his case to me, detail by detail. >> the mark lane's and the conspiracy theorists all flocked initially to garrison.
7:48 pm
>> the case he has built against clay shaw is based on testimony that did not pass a lie detector test that garrison ordered and garrison knew it. >> garrison started bribing witnesses, intimidating witnesses. >> he said i could be made to serve this whole nine-year sentence or i could be cut loose right away. >> hypnotizing witnesses. >> we decided to give him objectifying to make sure he was telling the truth. >> does he have a last name? >> oswald. >> would you say these methods were illegal? >> i would very say illegal and unethical. >> he had everyone and their grandmother involved in the assassination. at one time, it was oil millionaires. then it was the minutemen. then it was a homosexual
7:49 pm
killing. >> yes, sir. >> do you feel that homosexuality or the coercion of homosexuality was a factor in the planning or the assassination of john f. kennedy? >> no comment. >> at one point, he had 15 assassins in dealey plaza. with that many assassins, i don't know how kennedy made it to the autopsy table. >> garrison announced he had discovered a code. >> garrison said jack ruby's unlisted telephone number appears in address books belonging to shaw and oswald. >> you take p and o and use a telephone dial, p gives you 7, o gives you 6. >> he just changed the digits around, added digits, added letters. >> and you reconstruct the numbers, and then you subtract 1,300, and that gives you ruby's unlisted telephone number. >> mr. garrison, if the p.o. didn't exist until late '65, how could it then be jack ruby's
7:50 pm
phone? >> well, that's a problem for you to think over because you, obviously, missed the point. clay shaw came to court in good spirits today with his long-awaited trial under way, shaw seems almost relieved that his case is finally being heard. >> the trial went on for six weeks. it's important to note that not one witness produced by garrison survived cross-examination. >> in a unanimous verdict by a 12-man jury, shaw was found not guilty of charges that he conspired to kill the late president john kennedy. >> you know what the first question is going to be, don't you? >> what? >> why did you do it? [ laughter ] >> i would sum it up by saying that any society which allows a man like jack kennedy to have the top of his head torn off and then protects the assassins and obstructs any inquiry and attempt to find the truth is not a great society.
7:51 pm
(vo) ours is a world of passengers. come on let's go! (vo) the red-eyes. (daughter) i'm really tired. (dad) i feel bad for you. (vo) the transfers. well, that's kid number three. (vo) the return trips. how you feeling buddy? i'm fine, dad. (vo) the day trips. (boy) i get it this time! (vo) the carpools. see...now this is why i wanted girls. (boy) i called it!
7:52 pm
(vo) the co-pilots. all sitting... ...trusting... ...waiting... ...for a safe arrival. which is why we built our greatest subaru sedan ever, with road-gripping symmetrical all-wheel drive, and available eyesight driver assist technology. to help the driver in you... ...care for the passenger in them. introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. [ blows whistle ] then spend your time chasing your point "b"... ...the war of 1812. [ bell rings ] you get to point "b", and sometimes things change. but your journey is not done. capella university is the most direct path to what's next, because our competency-based curriculum gives you what you need to move forward to your point "c". capella university. start your journey at capella.edu.
7:53 pm
7:54 pm
information concerning the cause of the death of your president has been withheld from you. >> to show you how uncredible the conspiracy theorists are, over the last 50 years, at one time or another, they have accused 42 groups, 82 assassins, and 214 people of being involved in the assassination.
7:55 pm
>> as a reporter, the greatest story for us would have been to find out somebody other than oswald did it. and we tried hard to do that. but at every turn with the kennedy assassination, things pointed to oswald as not only a shooter, but the shooter and the only shooter. >> lee harvey oswald had these dreams or delusions that he'd been harboring for a long time of an act that would lift him from his obscurity. >> oswald used to attend a small discussion group. and he began to rail against this right wing general, edwin walker. >> general walker was about as right wing as you got in the early '60s. and oswald saw walker as an american adolf hitler. >> and oswald said someone should kill walker. he then ordered a rifle with a sniper scope, and he planned very meticulously his assassination of general walker. he took photographs from different angles, he figured out how to get his rifle there and how to escape. >> and then he went on the night of the 10th of april, took up his place and shot at general walker. >> he was very disappointed to find out that he missed by less than an inch.
7:56 pm
>> it shows his ability to plan who his target was and that oswald was capable of violence. >> i think that was kind of the rosetta stone that if you understood the walker shooting, you understood that lee was like a cocked rifle and he could go off any time. ♪ >> what set the conspiracy notion about the kennedy assassination among many americans was the sheer incongruity of the affair. all that power and majesty wiped out in one instance by a skinny, weak-chinned little character. >> it doesn't satisfy our sense of narrative or justice that a small person of no distinction can be of such historical consequences to killed the president of the united states. >> but would we be more
7:57 pm
comfortable believing that a second shot was fired by a second assassin who materialized out of thin air for the purpose, fired a shot, and then vanished again into thin air, leaving behind no trace of himself, his rifle, his bullet, or any other sign of existence. >> there were two groups of people. there's one group that will look at an extraordinary coincidence, a cataclysm of circumstance and say, yes, that's the way the world works. there's another group of people for whom that is quite unsettling. >> they don't want to believe that something so random could have occurred. can you believe that you can step off a curb some day and be killed by an oncoming car? nobody believes in that kind of possibility for themselves. but it happens. is life that fortuitous? that uncertain? >> and for them, oddly, the notion of the conspiracy is more comforting than the absence of it. because if there's a conspiracy, at least there's a plan.
7:58 pm
>> they've lost so much faith in government that they actually think that the government is an accessory after the fact to the president's murder, can't get too much worse than that. >> the assassination changed the trajectory of the '60s. america was a different place on the day before john f. kennedy was killed. so when you look at this america as a whole in the 20th century, you look at america in the 60s, you really say, that day was the dividing point. >> i guess in the average man's life, there are two or three emotional experiences that he doesn't forget. because they're burned into his heart and his brain. and no matter what happens to me, i will remember november the 22nd as long as i live. it is impossible for me to this
7:59 pm
day, and i'm sure ten years from now to drive through dallas and look at the school book depository building and impossible to drive by the hotel this morning and not think about the day president kennedy died there. it will always be with us. >> ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. >> this is what people wish for again in the government. they want someone who inspires them. who gives them hope. for whom they have a kind of admiration. kennedy standing hold on the public i think will only fade if and when we get another president about whom they feel the same way as they currently feel about kennedy. feel about kennedy. ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com
8:00 pm
it is a mixture of pretty scenery, an ugly event. vietnam reports today of the bloodiest fighting in almost a year. >> we will not surrender, and we will not retreat. >> think you can win? i know we can win. >> these people are being killed. they're being killed, why? >> stop this bloody aggression. >> we're in the middle. ♪