it all started in the early morning hours of june 17th when on the sixth floor of the building behind me, five men with electronic gear were caught in the offices of the democratic national committee. the building is called the watergate. >> arrested at gunpoint, the five suspect had with them bugs and microphones. just who wanted to listen in to the chitchat of the democratic

national committee remains a mystery. >> richard nixon, a man america needs now more than ever. >> the trail of the watergate paper veered closer to the white house today. >> the "washington post" said the watergate break-in was no isolated event, but part of a broader effort to spy on democrats and sabotage their presidential campaign. >> no reporter from the "washington post" is to ever be in the white house again. you understand? >> the white house denied, and continues to deny, involvement in any wrongdoing. >> there are few signs that watergate is stirring any concern in the electorate. >> does a thing like the watergate affair give you any second thoughts? >> no. no. doesn't bother me at all. >> he's the most qualified man

for the job. nixon. >> this is your vote and years from now, i just hope you can all look back and say it was one of your best votes. thank you. >> four more years! four more years! >> president nixon will be re-elected in a landslide. >> i, richard nixon, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states, so help me god.

so help me god. >> and president nixon taking the oath of office for his second term. >> well, it's turned out to be a rather cold, blustery day here in washington. the windchill factor is pretty -- pretty low. coming in from the north as that wind is. >> here comes the president's car. the president being proceeded by a drum corps. all the bandsmen in their colonial uniforms. if weather were a bit warmer, i suppose this would be a somewhat more festive occasion. perhaps it's been the weather, but the crowds have been very, very light. somewhat sparse. not the kind of crowd that one would have hoped for on a day like today. here's a president who has just received the greatest popular election victory in the history of the country.

this is his great moment, his great day. must indicate, i suppose, what vietnam has done to us. >> good evening. president nixon is about to address the nation on the status of the peace negotiations on vietnam. that is the phrase the white house used when it announced the president's intention to speak. now, here is the president. >> we rolling, gentlemen? >> yes, sir. >> all right. good evening. i have asked for this radio and television time tonight for the importance of announcing that we, today, have concluded an agreement to end the war and bring peace with honor in vietnam and in southeast asia. the cease-fire will take effect at 2400 greenwich meantime january 27th, 1973.

within 60 days, all american forces will be withdrawn from south vietnam. >> copy. >> it's over now. we're going to be reunited again. president nixon said we got out of it with honor, and i'm happy with that. >> i'll tell you, we accomplished something. we've got peace. absolutely. >> with everybody against you, and you brought it up. >> that's right

>> seven men went on trial today charged with the break-in and burglary of democratic national headquarters in the watergate building last june. >> far more is involved here than the guilt or innocence of the seven defendants. if they are guilty, why did they do it? then who put them up to it? >> good evening. the jury in the watergate case reached a quick verdict late today. guilty on all counts. in the break-in and bugging of

democratic national committee headquarters. . >> this was supposed to be the finale of the seven watergate defendants. the day of sentencing. instead, the case broke wide open again. >> james w. mccore, the one-time security director for the nixon re-election campaign, one of the men convicted in the watergate affair, has apparently decided to tell what he knows about watergate. >> is your client doing this in hopes of getting a lighter sentence or precisely why? >> i've advised mr. mccord to be guided solely by his own conscience and conviction. he'll do just that. >> mccord says the trial was marked by political pressure, by perjury, and that people not on trial were involved.

>> there's no doubt about the serious ne seriousness of the problem which we've got. there's a problem with continued blackmail. >> right. >> it will cost money. >> you could get a million dollars. and you could get it in cash. >> i know where it could be gotten. >> now, there's always the possibility of any one of these individuals blowing and mccord is not accepting any money so he's not a bought man right now. >> he's playing hard ball. wouldn't play hard ball unless he's pretty confidence that he can cause an awful lot of grief. honey, while you finish up here, i'll grab us some coffee. ok.

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today james mccord jr. headed for his appointment at the capitol, now ready to testify against his co-conspirators and those who hired him in the politically explosive watergate conspiracy. ♪ >> the los angeles times" reported today mccord implicated two nixon aides and white house counsel john dean had prior knowledge of the break-in. >> it's hard to put events of this magnitude in perspective. neverthele nevertheless, the scandal has now moved right to the doorway of the oval office in the white house.

>> the president has asked me to announce that he is, today, receiving -- sorry. that the president has, today, requested and accepted the resignation of john dean from his position of the white house counsel. okay. >> good evening. in recent months, members of my administration and officials of the committee for the re-election of the president, including some of my closest friends and most trusted aides, have been charged with involvement in what has come to be known as the watergate affair.

in any organization, the man at the top must bear the responsibility. that responsibility, therefore, belongs here in this office. i accept it. and i pledge to you tonight from this office that i will do everything in my power to ensure that the guilty are brought to justice and that such abuses are purged from our political processes in the years to come, long after i have left this office. ♪ >> i don't think that he has anything to do with it. i really don't. >> well, i don't blame the president. i think his associates fooled him quite a bit. >> many more things are bothering america than watergate, like the high price of meat, you know, and the high cost of living.

>> as of now, we do not know many of the details of the watergate story. perhaps, the answers will come in the senate hearings which start this week, with witnesses telling what they though under oath before the public. >> good morning. this is the senate caucus room in washington, d.c. as the senate opens what is likely to become what is the most serious investigation it has ever met. investigation of the american political system and the presidency, itself. >> the questions that have been raised in the wake of the june 17th break-in, undergirding our democracy. my colleagues on the committee and i are determined to uncover all the relevant facts surrounding these matters. the nation is watching us. we cannot fail our mission.

>> these, of course, are days where there's no shortage of controversy with the watergate committee on capitol hill. for a few hours tonight, the attention will be shifted away from those problems here at the white house. >> it isn't that we're trying to keep anything from the american people that the american people should know, but had we not had secrecy, you men would still be in illinois rather than washington today. >> my god, the white house has never seen a party like this. believe me. you should have seen the women. negro girls and others. good god, they threw their arms around me, kissed me. the damndest thing i ever saw.

that's what the goddamn "new york times" and "washington post" ought to be writing. i'm going to kick their ass around the block. all this crap we're digging, this crap about watergate. i'm so wound up in this son of a bitching thing, you know, being out there, you know, really does scream about this and that. all that horseshit. it's going to be rough. >> good morning. although this is not abc's scheduled day to provide live continuous coverage, we are going on now with the hearings because the witness will be john dean. you see him here with his wife at his right. >> the committee will come to order. >> yes. mr. dean, could you please take the microphone and put it closer to you so we could all hear?

>> certainly. the watergate matter was an inevitable outgrowth of a climate of excessive concern over leaks and insatiable appetite for political intelligence, all coupled with a do-it-yourself white house staff regardless of the law. these elements culminated with the creation of a covert intelligence operation as part of the president's re-election committee. i shall now turn to the meetings i had with the president in february and march of this year. of watergate matters, specifically. i told the president about the fact that there were money demands being made by the seven convicted defendants. he asked me how much it would cost. i told him that it might be as high as a million dollars or more. he told me that that was no problem. >> i concluded by saying this is going to take continued perjury

and continued support of these individuals to perpetuate the cover-up and that i did not believe it was possible to so continue it. i told him that there was a cancer growing on the presidency and if the cancer was not removed, the president, himself, would be killed by it. and he said that it would be handled properly. >> now it is on the public record, john dean's damning if largely unsubstantiated testimony, that the president knowingly participated in the watergate cover-up. nothing less than richard nixon's presidency may ride on whether the public believes john dean or not. is trained, knowledgeable, and committed to financial planning in your best interest. find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. find your certified financial planner™ professional ♪ ♪ i can do more to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin.

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to save 30% on all the medications we carry. so go directly to petmeds.com now. today, john dean ended five days of testimony still insisting that the president knew of the watergate cover-up last year. not in this century has anyone made such accusations under oath against a president. >> the white house is seeking protection from the dean testimony behind a wall of silence. the president's spokesman would not reply except with "no comment" to any of the charges. >> you know, there it has been talk about your father -- a great deal of talk, being very secluded, that when he is faced with a problem like some of the

watergate developments, that there is this wall. >> well, i think that there's been a lot of secondhand, you know, hearsay and it's been printed as if it's fact, and he hasn't done any wrong. >> you know, i feel almost uncomfortable asking you these questions, and yet, one must at this time. how is your father, mrs. eisenhower? some people have said that he's aged 10 to 15 years. >> i don't -- i haven't seen a dramatic change, but i think he, you know, he gets more gray hairs every day, that's for sure. >> president nixon is resting tonight at the bethesda naval hospital. >> president nixon is that he has a very severe illness with pomona and has the kind of illness that ought to be treated in the hospital.

>> asked if the recent stress of his office may have contributed to the illness, the docket responded, "maybe yes, maybe no." >> okay. ♪ >> programs regularly scheduled for this time will not be seen today in order that we might bring you the following special report. q" "watergate senate hearings." ♪ >> state your name. >> my name is alexander porter butterfield. >> what were your duties at the white house, mr. butterfield? >> i was responsible for the management and ultimate supervision of the office of special files.

>> mr. butterfield, are you aware of the installation of any devices, listening devices, in the oval office of the president? >> i was aware of listening devices, yes, sir. >> on whose authority were they installed, mr. butterfield? >> on the president's authority for boposterity. >> all right. mr. butterfield, as far as you know from your own personal knowledge, all of the president's conversations were recorded? as far as you know. >> that's correct. >> mr. butterfield, if one were to reconstruct the conversations, what would be the best way to reconstruct those conversations? >> well, in the obvious manner, mr. dash, to obtain the tape and play it.

>> thank you very much, sir. >> a startling development. >> certainly critical in regard to dean's testimony and in essence the case against the president of the united states. >> ron, can you tell us how the president was informed about mr. butterfield's testimony and what his reaction to it was? >> well, he was informed by members of the staff when we were informed about it. i won't give you his reaction to it. >> ron -- >> president going to release the tapes? >> gentlemen, i understand your interest in this subject, but this is not the time. questions of another subject, i'll take those, if not -- >> tell us this, whether these tapes are considered presidential documents. >> i've already told you that i'm not prepared to talk about this beyond this. >> can you assure us that the tapes are safe?

>> and where are they, physically? is. >> i thought i had been quite clear earlier when i said i had nothing further to say on this particular matter at this point. >> at some point, are you ever going to be able to talk about it? >> well, we haven't determined that yet. >> thank you. ♪ [ applause ] >> thank you very much for your very warm welcome. i do want you to know that there is one bit of advice that i'm not going to take, and it will

be of interest it to our friends in the press. some people thought that, perhaps, the burdens of the office and the rather rough assaults that this office gets from time to time brings on an illness and that i might get so tired that i would consider either slowing down or, even some suggested, resigning. well now, just so we set that to rest, any suggestion that this president is ever going to slow down while he's president or is ever going to leave this office until he finishes the job he was elected to do, anyone who suggests that, that's just plain poppycock. >> let others wall low in watergate. we're going to do our job.

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it seems a lot longer, but it was only last week that the senate watergate committee learned of the existence of tape recordings to president nixon's conversations including conversations bearing on

watergate. >> i would urge the tapes be burnished for use in my investigation without restriction. the request is part of an investigation into serious criminal misconduct, the obstruction of justice. therefore, it becomes my duty promptly to seek subpoenas. the tapes are material and important evidence pursuant to a conspiracy and as part of a cover-up. >> good evening. the time has come for me to speak out about the charges made and to provide a perspective on the issue for the american people. i had no prior knowledge of the watergate break-in. i neither took part in nor knew

about any of the subsequent cover-up activities. that was, and that is, the simple truth. many have urged that in order to help prove the truth of what i have said, i should turn over to the special prosecutor recordings of conversations i held in my office or on my telephone. however, these conversations are privileged and their disclosure cannot be compelled. i pledge to you tonight that those who would exploit watergate in order to keep us from doing what we were elected to do will not succeed. >> this is virginia sherwood at a ford motor company plant near detroit. factory workers here had their own reaction to the president's watergate speech. >> what i thought the president, kind of evasive in some of the matters that he said. >> you want a real literal

answer? >> yes, sir. >> i thought it was a bunch of bananas. >> well, i think he's wrong. >> what do you mean? >> well, he should bring them tapes on, let the public see what's going on. >> the number for united press international, please. this is jim doyle from archibald cox's office. i have a statement that i'm going to read as fast as you can take it. it's from special prosecutor cox. you ready? "the president is refusing to comply with the court decrees to turn over tapes, and other documents. i shall bring this to the attention of the court.

>> ladies and gentlemen, some things i feel very deeply about are at stake. there has been and is evidence of serious wrongdoing on the part of the president of the united states. wrongdoing involving an effort to cover up other wrongdoing. >> show will not be seen tonight so that we may bring you the following special report. >> take one. >> president nixon has discharged watergate special prosecutor archibald cox.

>> what are they kicking you out or what? >> what can i say, guys? >> are they seizing files? >> i can make no further comment now other than their offices have been sealed by the fbi. >> this is nuts. >> good evening. the president has abolished special watergate prosecutor cox's office and duties. in my career as a correspondent, i never thought i'd be announcing these things. because of the president's action, the attorney general has resigned. at the same time, the deputy attorney general has been fired. all of this adds up to a totally unprecedented situation, a grave and profound crisis in which the president has set himself against his own attorney general and the department of justice. >> everybody ready? >> hold on. >> mr. cox's comment when he was about to be fired was "whether

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in firing the special prosecutor and abolishing his entire office, mr. nixon has made it abundantly clear that he does not intend to obey the law of the land. the people are beginning to respond. the anger and outrage reflected in these telegrams. all of them demanding that the congress act and impeach the president. >> impeach nixon now! impeach nixon now! impeach nixon now! >> good evening. the president agreed to do just what he had always said he would not do. turn over certain tape recordings of his conversations about watergate. >> mr. president -- >> mr. president, wonder if you could share with us your thoughts when you hear of people

saying, perhaps, you should resign or be impeached. >> well, i'm glad we don't take the vote of this room, let me say. >> mr. president -- >> at the risk of re-opening an obvious wound, what is it about the television coverage of you that has so aroused your anger? >> gentlemen of the press, one can only be angry with those he respects. as a matter of fact, i have never heard such outrageous, vicious, reporting in 27 years of public life, but regardless of what people see and hear on television night after night, the tougher it gets, the cooler i get. i have what it takes. >> mr. president -- >> mr. president -- >> most interesting, well, as you can see, the president has decided to end this news

conference himself. >> good evening. the matter of the president's white house tape recordings took an unexpected turn today. it is now said by the president's lawyer that two of the requested tape recordings do not exist. >> do you think the public will believe this story? >> i don't know. >> last night, i read a thing on the air about the tapes vanishing and the audience thought it was a sick yolk. >> can't you hear the dialogue in the white house? >> pat, you know i put those tapes in that droor drawer. >> every day he does something that -- sort of like a rat going around, you keep trying to kill it and it gets away. >> i have to have my watergate fix every single morning in the paper. i get like this if i haven't gotten my watergate fix. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states.

>> mr. president, when did you discover that two of the subpoenaed white house tapes did not exist? >> let me just respond, if i could, sir, before going to your question. i'll turn left then come back to the right. i don't want to tilt either way at the moment, as you can be sure. >> well, today, another bomb exploded. more trouble about those subpoenaed tapes. >> the 18-minute segment of another of the subpoenaed watergate tapes is missing. >> you can be sure that this kind of a subject is one that is a difficult one to explain. >> technical experts report that the 18-minute gap was caused by erasing and re-recording. >> impeach him now! impeach nixon now! impeach nixon now! >> let we just say this. i want to say this to the television audience because people have got to know whether or not their president is a

crook. well, i'm not a crook. >> nixon is a crook! nixon is a crook! nixon is a crook! >> well now, there's another battle for white house tapes. >> today's subpoena is for 64 conversations covering more than 45 hours. >> the president and his lawyers pursue their hard line on not giving another inch on the watergate scandal. >> was like trench warfare. charge after charge over the top. >> president nixon will fight the case all the way to the supreme court. >> only a few yards gained and then lost. there wasn't going to be a miracle. we couldn't make one happen. >> is hhistory was made today ae united states supreme court told the president of the united states that he has no right to withhold white house tapes subpoenaed for the watergate

cover-up trial. >> the meeting will come to order. make no mistake about it, this is a turning point, whatever we decide. >> thank you, mr. chairman. the president has engaged in a series of actions designed to thwart the lawful investigation by government prosecutors, and i am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the subversi subversion, the destruction, of the constitution. >> ladies and gentlemen, the law requires that we decide the case on the evidence. nobody doubts that. on the evidence.

there's not a word of presidential knowledge or awareness or involvement in obstruction of justice. now ladies and gentlemen, i do ask you to judge the truth, which is the law of this case. thank you, mr. chairman. ♪ >> on the investigation, you know, the democratic break-in thing, we're back to the problem area because the fbi, their investigation is now leading to some productive areas.

>> all right. look, without going into details, call the fbi and don't go any further into this case. with great reluctance and deep personal sorrow, i am prepared to support those portions of article 1 of the bill of impeachment, the magnificent career of richard nixon must be terminat terminated. an. -welcome to our complete freedom plan. -it's all possible with a cfp professional. ♪ -find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. (danny)-find your certified after a long day of hard work... ...you have to do more work?

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sus members. but the hard fact is that no one really knows what's going on in the president's mind. >> it was a painful day. tears were brimming in virtually everybody's eyes. but the essence of every great leader i have known is that he was a lonely man. >> what? okay. >> only the cbs crew now is to be in this room. only the crew. that's it. you got it? now, all secret service, is there any secret service in the room? >> out. >> 15 seconds to air, please. president richard milhous nixon

good evening. this is the 37th time i have spoken to you from this office. throughout the long and difficult period of watergate, i have felt it was my duty to the persevere. i have never been a quitter. to leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. but as president, i must put the interests of america first. therefore, i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. i do so with this prayer. may god's grace be with you in all the days ahead. >> this is the culminating act,

the final act of his administration, of course. >> first president in american history to be forced to leave office before the end of his term. mr. nixon resigning effective at noon tomorrow. this is the southside of the white house where later this morning, president nixon and his family will be leaving. mr. nixon will make farewell remarks to members of the white house staff, personal friends, all of whom have gathered here this morning. now the president and mrs. nixon coming into the east wing. this will be the last time that he will do it as president of the united states.

>> we think sometimes when things happen that are don't go the right way, we think that when we lose an election, we think that when we suffer a defeat, that all has ended. not true. it's only a beginning always. and so i say to you on this occasion, never get discouraged. never be petty. always remember, others may hate you. but those who hate you don't win. unless you hate them. and then you destroy yourself. >> we come to the end of the nixon years. years which saw america's greatest political comeback turn into america's greatest political disgrace.

>> for those who say will you apologize, are you sorry, there's no way that you could apologize which would exceed resigning the presidency of the united states. that said it all. and i don't intend to say any more. >> this will be viewed as a great watershed of history. >> sometimes these watersheds last for about a generation. do you think that as the lessons of say watergate are forgotten, we might have to go through something like this again? ♪

♪ and good evening, welcome. i'm anderson cooper. if you've been watching our original series "tricky dick," you just relived the final hours of nixon's presidency as a white house corruption scandal was finally exposed to public view and shook the nation and the world. what have we learned about watered gate? a lot to talk about. i'm joined by the key players from that time, carl bern teen, former nixon white house counsel john dean, and former