>> it gives you that sense of feeling, you know, of helping people, which is, you know, something i like to do and i will continue to do. >> we thank corporal lasco and all of our brave men and women for their service to this country. thank you for being with us. thank you for being with us. "campbell brown" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight here are the questions we want answered -- why were the parents of 17 children murdered? we want the story. >> now we're in the phase of the investigation that is much like master's level chess. >> a safe buried in the backyard. eight people now under arrest? the sheriff is tonight's "newsmaker." plus, is a custody deal in the works for michael jackson's children? will janet step in to raise her brother's three kids, and why has he still not been buried? then the strange case of amanda knox.

is this young american student getting railroaded in italy? she's accused of murdering her roommate and now her sisters are speaking out on her behalf, but are they doing more harm than good? and the week's must undercovered stories. >> i realize the last few miles of any race are the hardest to run. but i have to say now is not the time to slow down. >> we'll update you on some of the big stories that just aren't getting enough attention. hi, everybody. those are our big questions tonight, but we're going to start as we always do with "the mash-up," it is, of course, our look at all the stories making impact right now, the moments you may have missed today. we're watching it all, so you don't have to. tonight we have exclusive surveillance video of the suicide bombing of the ritz-carlton in jakarta, the whole thing caught on tape as it unfolded. take a look.

>> you have to look at this video. let's watch it together. here we go. take it, rog, if you got it. see that man, see him right there. he's walking through the hotel lobby, he's following into that area where it seems like the elevator's on and he disappears in the archway, bam! >> it was so big especially at the marriott, there was a lot of white smoke in the area. and five minutes later, the ritz-carlton got hit. >> there is chuve cnn footage as there. there you see the who hotels, as mayhem begins to break out. >> police here now believe that the suspected bombers were actually guests in this hotel at the jw marriott and that they debt nated their bombs using homemade explosives that police found in their room, number 1808. >> an indonesian terror network with links to al qaeda is suspected. >> big-name hotels overseas. especially those with western ties, have become the new target of islamic terrorists. and there's still no claim

of responsibility for the double suicide bombing that also targeted the marriott hotel. six people killed, more than 50 wounded, including at least 8 americans, president obama, who has lived in indonesia, called the attacks outrageous. and new york city police announced they are stepping up security at new york hotels, just as a precaution. well, we were expecting to it be a quiet summer friday in washington, but that all changed when at the last minute president obama called in reporters to short-circuit the 24-hour news cycle and give, he called, quote, the long view on health care reform. here's your "crib sheet." >> the health insurance reform cannot add to our deficits over the next decade, and i mean it. let me repeat. health insurance reform cannot add to our deficit over the next decade. and i mean it. the last few miles of any race

are the hardest to run. but i have to say, now is not the time to slow down. and now's certainly not the time to lose heart. those who are betting against this happening this year are badly mistaken. we are going to get this done. we will reform health care. it will happen this year. >> and this is just the beginning of the president's push. he has called a prime-time news conference for next wednesday night. you're going to see that right here on cnn. the white house announced it today on twitter, a new age out there, folks. to wall street now where bailed-out banks are now making money big time. bank of america, citigroup, jpmorgan chase, goldman sachs all announcing this week billions of dollars in profits this quarter. remember, your money just bailed these guys out, and so the big question -- are taxpayers getting taken for

a ride here? well, usually we'd ask ali velshi to help us explain it, but he's on a well-deserved vacation. so here's jon stewart with the bottom line. >> how is it happening? well, it's simple. let me explain. the u.s. economy is basically a pyramid. and it's taken some real hits lately. unemployment is at a 26-year high. 6.5 million jobs have been lost. 1.9 million house foreclosure filings just this year! and consumer confidence is at an all-time low. all economic indicators that have left the beloved top of our pyramid, the eye, goldman sachs, in peril. they can survive the loss of the foundation, but once they get poked in the eye, hmm! anyway that's where the government came in. first, they let a couple of goldman sachs' competitors, like lehman brothers and bear stearns collapse or be absorbed. that can't be bad for goldman's business. then we gave aig $13 billion so

they could pay back 100 cents on the dollar, the $13 billion they owed goldman sachs. then we let goldman sachs become a holding bank and gave them loan guarantees to keep their cost of capital down. it's what's known in business as the invisible government-funded scaffolding of the free market. and it worked! just enough for goldman sachs to pay its employees a total of $11.36 billion this year. so, fret not, america, your work has not gone in vain. we can all rest assured -- wait, what's happening? is there -- no, the supports are giving out! quick! everybody, throw your bodies under goldman sachs to cushion its fall! children first, they're the softest! hmm. hmm trickle-never theory of the economy.

>> all right. so, it's friday night, we're going a little lighter and, of course, that would explain everything to you. now, to main street. while the banks are raking in the cash, millions of people around the country tonight out of a job. 16 states now have unemployment levels above 10%. michigan is the hardest hit with 15% of the people there unemployed. but if you're feeling down, just look up for some positive thinking, courtesy of good samaritans. >> these billboards are the product of an anonymous donor along with the outdoor advertisers association to lift the spirits of a nation in recession. and during times when we don't know where the economy is headed next, this campaign is driven to sell a little bit of hope. if you look in the right direction. >> maybe if somebody sees the bill gates billboard and they say, you know, maybe it's not a bad time to try that idea i've always had. >> whatever it takes. now, forget positive

thinking, this next story are more like what are they thinking? we know dealerships are doing everything they can to sell cars these days, get this, starting in august one car dealer in missouri will be giving away free ak-47 assault weapons with the purchase of any truck. uh, yeah, you heard me right, ak-47s if you buy a truck. >> we're just trying to generate some traffic, generate some interest and enthusiasm and excitement and it seems to work real well. you know, we're not just going to give people an ak-47 gun, you know, felons buy cars, too. what we are going to do is we'll give them a voucher where they can go to their local gun dealers, or local gun dealers that we would strongly recommend where they can buy a gun and go through the proper background checks so the guns end up in the right hands. >> you know, some people watching this might think, you know, owning a handgun is one thing, but owning an ak-47 is something else and maybe it's a tad irresponsible. .

>> we're firm believers in the second amendment and we don't want to become victims. >> felons buy cars, too, the big line of the day, everybody. so, here is the sports shocker to share with you. tiger woods missed the cut at the british open today by just one stroke. he's out of there. and even the sports reporters called it a meltdown, and, boy, did tiger realize it. >> just made mistakes, and obviously you can't make mistakes and expect to not only, you know, make the cut, but also, you know, try and win a championship. you have to, you know, play clean rounds of golf, and i didn't. i made my share of mistakes out there today, and didn't play a very clean card. >> here's the nice part of the story, the current leader of the open 59-year-old tom watson who is taking out the young gun. and if you are thinking of kids -- or taking the kids to see "harry potter and the half-blood prince." you're not alone. it had an opening fit for a king. that's tonight's "punch line." >> the new harry potter film

opened today. it earned a whopping $58 million in its first day. producers are still marveling at the ability of harry potter fans to clear their social schedules on a wednesday. it's been reported that harry potter books have spawned the new genre of music called wh eed rock. it's the first-ever music, rock music, where the main drug of choice is for asthma. >> and that is "the mash-up." tonight's live blog is up and running. chat now at cnn.com/campbell. go check it out. and "the big question" when we come back -- why were the parents of 17 children really murdered? 8 people have now been arrested. this is a case that has so many twists and turns, what exactly is the backstory here? we're going to ask the sheriff. he is tonight's "newsmaker." >> we are now at a phase in this investigation that is much like

master's level chess. if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act.

new developments tonight in the killings of the parents of 17 children in florida, just minutes before the family and friends gathered at the funeral, this is for byrd and melanie billings, a lawyer representing their relatives tried to end days of speculation by revealing previously confidential details about a key piece of evidence, a safe that was taken during last week's home invasion when the couple was shot and killed. >> as a result of the intense speculation regarding the motive of the crime, i have been authorized to tell you that the safe that was removed from the

billings' home contained only children's prescription medication, important family documents, and some jewelry of sentimental value. hopefully this will put to rest the intense speculation and rumors that are swirling about the billings family. >> we want to get all the latest developments in the investigation from the man who is in charge of it, escambia county sheriff, david morgan, joining me tonight from pensacola. sheriff morgan, welcome to you. appreciate your time. >> thank you. it's an honor to be here. >> we have heard from our reporters there that there actually may be another arrest next week. what can you tell us about that? >> that's a possibility, because this investigation continues as we've stated all along. this web is like concentric circles and we're working our way out, and that's a very real possibility, because we're working this case as diligently as we did in the first day.

>> sheriff, you've compared this case to everything from a truman capote movie to the charles manson killings, i mean, why these comparisons? when are we going to get sort of a bigger picture here? >> it may be a while, because as i've explained, we're in the prosecutorial phase of this investigation now, meaning that there is so much information that we cannot speak openly and freely about. those examples i made because of the numbers of people that have been involved in murders that were very high profile throughout the united states. in the truman capote case, the clutter family, of course, in kansas, there was only two individuals involved in that murder. and when you go out to california in '69, '70 with the tate/low lobiaco murders, there were seven, we're up to more than that. >> the number of people from what at least you told us appears to be a robbery, it just doesn't make sense. >> well, i would agree with you

on its surface, it doesn't, but as the state attorney has said, and i also concur with, a motive -- a motive -- for this crime was a home invasion and robbery. and as we've tried to tell everyone, please be patient with us because the information will come out as this case progresses and more motives will become apparent as this case progresses. >> can you give us a sense for what other motives may have been involved here? >> i'm sorry, i am truly not at liberty to speak about that. >> we also understand that there are additional people of interest. what can you tell us about that? >> that is true. just like in the last instance with miss long wiggins, we have some additional people that we've interviewed in this case and that have been involved with this case. and so we want to ensure -- ensure -- that they are just on the periphery of this and not actually intimentatly involved with this. pause as i stated all along in this, we're looking for culpability, and anyone that shared any part of this, we intend to bring to trial. >> and some of those people at

least you are questioning about the security cameras on the property, correct? >> that is correct, because in an otherwise very well-executed plan for the entry into the compound and into the home and theen their exit strategy, that is the one gaping hole as i call it in a strategy that was left to chance. we believe and have theorized all along, that there was someone -- someone -- whose position in this escapade, if you will, that was their responsibility was to disable that system. and, of course, it wasn't disabled, which was a tremendous break in this case. >> right. and i do understand that there are security cameras throughout the house, so i guess does that mean that you have all aspects of this crime on tape? >> i will state that there are exterior and interior cameras, and i'll leave it at that. >> and you've called in the dea, the atf, the fbi. can you be any more specific about what they're focusing on? >> yes, ma'am, i can. they're focusing on specific

areas of their responsibility, some of it, of course, is with us. in this case. and i want to reiterate that we are focused on the murders of the billings family. but during the conduct of this investigation, some of the elements that came to light about, again, these individuals that we currently have incarcerated, that there is some information that these other federal agencies needed to know. and so we held a conference and passed that information on to them. so now it's within their purview, and not mine. >> sheriff morgan, we do appreciate your time tonight. i know you've got a lot on your plate right now, so thanks very much for talking to us. >> thank you, ma'am, for your time. we have some breaking news to share with you right now. legendary newsmaker, walter cronkite, dead at the age of 92 years old. cbs news has just announced it. cronkite, who in many ways, invented the job of television news anchor, had been ill for some time. cbs says he died today

peacefully in new york city. wolf blitzer right now has a look back at his incredible life. >> and that's the way it is. >> reporter: or so it was in the days when walter cronkite said so, night after night from inside the american television set. >> it will be the biggest broadcast we had here. >> reporter: when there were fewer channels, less doubt, one man behind the wheel, walter cronkite was the most trusted man in america, according to a 1973 poll. he was one of them, and that married. born in a small missouri town to the local dentist, he committed his life to telling stories. >> i'm just back from the biggest assignment that any american reporter could have so far in this war. >> reporter: tales from the front for the united press wire service during world war ii, reviving history in a signature cbs show "you are there." he was the first to anchor national coverage of a presidential nominating convention.

>> when you preside over a great event, for an american public that is watching you, you become synonymous with the great event. >> reporter: in 1962, he became anchor of the evening news, which rose in the ratings like one of his trademark broadcasts of a rocket launch. 19 million americans watched this man. in return, he made them moon men. >> boy. >> reporter: and kept them company in times of grief. >> president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time. >> reporter: he prided himself for staying out of the news. but, man, did he make news when he had something to say. in 1968, after a reporting trip to vietnam, he rocked the white house with his prediction that the war in that country would not be won, but would end in a stalemate. >> to say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, if unsatisfactory, conclusion. >> reporter: president lyndon johnson reportedly declared,

quote, if i've lost cronkite, i've lost middle america, unquote. long after he left the anchor seat, he kept speaking out, about wars and reporters and the relationship with each other. and lots of other things that mattered deeply to the american public. >> walter spoke like the average person. it wasn't all literary, flowery kind of language. people don't talk that way. and walter didn't either. >> reporter: he was cronkite, the modern master of the anchor chair. perhaps the first and last for this generation, to matter so much at a time when the globe found its axis on tv. because of the way he was, night after night, whether speaking of the stars, bomb blasts, common people, or uncommon politicians, history in the making. for making history himself. >> old anchorman, you see, they don't fade away, they just keep coming back for more. >> reporter: wolf blitzer, cnn,

washington. and we have sam donaldson on the phone right now to talk to us. sam, are you there? >> i am here, campbell. >> tell me your memories. tell me the moments for you that made this man. >> well, of course, i didn't work for cbs, but i watched walter cronkite from a very early age. and let's face it, there's no one who i think was on the air like him. two things, you've already talked about the fact that he was middle america himself. he was just an average person from the standpoint of the way he talked to us. nothing pretentious. nothing put-up, nothing special, just somebody that we knew next door. and, on the other hand, campbell, he had paid his dues big time, in ways that it's very difficult today to see how you could do it. he was on d-day in normandy, as upi's correspondent, and from then on, he had been in the trenches. so, when he talked about president kennedy and that great moment when he choked up, having to report the death, when he

talked about the landing on the moon and all of the other great "apollo" flights, when he talked about all of the events that he reported on, he had been there, and i think that that's one of the last of the generation to have done that. >> and, you know, sam, you can't really overstate his influence and the role that he played. you talked about him choking up when reporting the assassination of president kennedy, the other very famous moment was in 1968, when he said on the air that the united states had become mired in a stalemate when he was talking bet vietnam, and president johnson telling an aide, if i've lost cronkite, i've lost middle america. i mean, that level of influence certainly doesn't exist today. >> no, i think that's right. and i think one reason, of course, is that the fragmentation of available channels. there were only three networks then. if you watched television, oh, there were a handful of independent stations, but they didn't really count. we had 98.8% of the audience, abc, cbs and nbc, you had to

watch one of us. and during most of the time that he was on, you watched him, because he had an audience so large, compared with the audiences today, prime-time shows would just give everything they had to have half of what walter cronkite had as a news audience in the late '60s and into the '70s. >> the most trusted man in america. sam, stay with us, if you can, i want to bring on john roberts, who is also on the telephone with us. john, obviously, you worked at cbs for many, many years. tell us your story. >> i did, campbell, and i had the honor of meeting walter cronkite during the years i spent at cbs. but i remember the very first time i saw him was at a 5-year-old boy in canada, watching the cbs news when john kennedy was assassinated. i remember as sam was saying that moment where he took off his glasses and he looked at the clock and he said that president

kennedy has -- has died, and i -- i -- you know, that was one of the, you know, the earliest moments that i can remember that i really wanted to pursue a career in news. then i watched walter all threw the days of the "apollo" space program, and i remember him saying on july 20th, 1969, that man has landed on the moon, and followed him from there. and i mean, it's just -- you know, it -- to think that he was the most trusted man in america really was, i think, an understatement, because at that time, anytime, anything ever happened, anything bad ever happened, the world turned to whatter cronkite, not only for the news, but for reassurance. and he was -- he was not just an icon, but he was, you know, almost like a member of your family. and to think that he is gone now is just such a sad occasion. i know that he's been in poor health for the last few years, and as i said, i had the opportunity to meet him a number of times over the course of the last decade, and he always had a good word for you, you know.

i remember him the very first time i met him, he says, you know, i like -- i like what you've been doing. you've been doing a good job. and for a kid that came from the middle of nowhere to finally get to new york, that was just, like, the most incredible thing that anybody could ever hear. and to think that he is -- he's gone now is just such a sad occasion in the history of america. >> and, john, there was -- i was just reading, a public opinion survey that was released in 1972 that gave cronkite a 73% rating as the most trusted figure in the united states far more than the president at that time, president richard nixon. but it's impossible to imagine a scenario like that today. but he was -- he dominated in every way, didn't he? >> well, sam said, it was a different world back then. there weren't the plethora of cable channels like there are now and the internet, it was basically cbs, abc and nbc and you were watching one more than the other. it was a time when people would

come home from work and they would set up television tables. somebody would make dinner, and the family would set up tables in front of the television, the tv trays, and they would watch the evening news with walter cronkite pip it was a different time in america. it was a very time in america. and walter was certainly an amazing leader and a guiding light in this country. and, you know, while he hasn't been on the air since the early 1980s, he's a person that i have always missed turning to in the evening for my daily digest of news. and he's a person that will always be missed in the eyes of america. >> and, sam, talk to us a little bit about how many people tried to emulate him. i mean, he created, as we said, he was the consummate television news anchor. i mean, he set a standard, and he was what you aspired to, wasn't he? >> that's true. there were two people in that era. david brinkley was one and walter cronkite, who stood out above the rest. now, people tried to copy david brinkley because of his voice,

style, here we are, and how are you? but you couldn't copy cronkite's voice style, and you couldn't copy the fact that he was authentic from the stand point of just being an american. so, yes, people understood that pretentiousness was out, pomposity was out, to the extent that you didn't have to explain it. but cronkite didn't have those things. campbell, i want to bring up one point that john mentioned, since the early '80s. he was forced to retire at the age of 65 by bill payly who had founded cbs and who had one rule. you turned 65 and you had to go. frank stanton, payley's very important president was forced out at 65. and cronkite at the heighth of his power with the largest news audience in this country ever was forced to retire by bill payley. he could have gone on, what, another ten years easily and gone on to be number one easily, but he stepped down and dan

rather took over. and as they say in the old country, the rest is history. >> do you know, sam, how did he feel about that at the time? i mean, obviously, there must have been feeling -- >> i do know because i talked to him. i do know. he was not happy with it. he accepted it. he knew it was the rule. publicly he said all the right things. i mean, people like cronkite do not publicly show their emotions when it comes to being dissatisfied. that's no class. and he was class. so, he accepted it. he praised dan rather in the sense that he said to the public, i'm glad he took over. he retired. cbs paid him $1 million a year, that was real money, today it is, but, boy, in 1981 it was a lot of money, just to be around. but he disappeared. it's very interesting. when -- when the king is shoved aside, he's not allowed to appear. because the person who has now taken the throne would feel

threatened. so, you didn't see cronkite anymore, except once in a while on cbs after he stepped down. you would think that cbs would make use of him, but the point was, dan rather needed to be built up. he needed to be shown as the person who now was in the anchor seat. and so walter had to take a real back seat to that. he didn't like it. but he accepted it. >> john, he must have left quite a legacy, even after he stepped down at cbs in terms of the influence he had on the people there. like you, following in his footsteps. >> yeah, walter cronkite was the reason, campbell, that i wanted to get into the news business. and what sam says is true, you know, when he was forced to retire at the age of 65, i think he still felt that he had a lot of strength left in him and a lot of years left in him. and i remember that he had said publicly over the years that, you know, he was kind of forced out of the business just before the real money came in and he would have liked to have had the

opportunity to stay on for a few more years. and i really agree with sam, that he probably could have done it for another ten years. i mean, he was -- he was in his prime when he gave up that seat. and, you know, for whatever reason, right or wrong, he did accept it, and he accepted it with grace, though, you know, i think there is plenty of evidence that in the years that followed that he probably regretted the decision. but, you know, just in terms of when you look at the panorama of america and you look at the history of the news in america. you had edgar r. murrow as somebody who created a unique niche in american news, but i just don't think that there will ever be anyone like walter cronkite. walter cronkite was not only a pioneer in terms of creating this format of the evening news, but he was a man whose credibility and whose generosity and whose trust in mark i don't think will ever be repeated.

i don't think that there will ever be another walter cronkite, and that's probably a good thing, because he came in at a time when america was going through a transitional phase, and he really became sort of the figurehead for so many different things in america. and i think that he will always be remembered for that. and i know for this person who started watching him from the age of 5 years old, he will forever remain an icon of journalism and sort of the pinnacle of american television journalism. i don't think that anybody could ever take on the mantle that he had. >> all right, john roberts, stay with us, and sam donaldson, in you can. wolf blitzer actually interviewed walter cronkite. this was on the beaches of normandy. we want to take a look. >> we have a very special guest, someone who is probably best known in the united states, someone who's associated with d-day, the entire world war ii effort, and i'm talking, of course, about veteran newsman walter cronkite.

mr. cronkite, thank you for spending a few moments with us on cnn. >> good to be you, wolf. >> reporter: you're going to be the master of ceremonies at the cemetery here today. >> very small part, but that's what they call it. >> reporter: what is your message? what do you hope will be achieved by all of these events? >> i hope by reviewing again, looking again at the sacrifice of young men and women today that was taken in the name of warfare, we ought to be sobered into a realization that conflict resolution is far more important than picking up arms to settle our disagreements. it's a terrible thing to think of the thousands upon thousands of young people who will never have a chance to give their lives, who will never see their own children. as dwight eisenhower told me sitting on this very wall over here on the 20th anniversary of d-day, that he thinks of the grandchildren that these young kids will never have, and that's

something for all of us to think about. it's no way to settle our disagreements. >> reporter: is it your sense that this younger generation, born after world war ii knows what happened or is beginning to think of it as a long-forgotten past? >> well, it is a long-forgotten thing for them. when i think back when i was 20 years old or thinking back 50 years, for heavens sake, beyond the spanish-american war and i didn't think much of the spanish-american war. of course, it was a vastly different war than this one, which was a fully justified conflict in defense of liberty and attempt to win it back for people who had been trampled under the boot of despicable hitler. so, there wasn't any disagreement on the part of this war on the part of the american. very few dissenters. it was a war for a very just cause. >> reporter: what goes through your mind, 50 years ago today, where were you right now?

>> right now, i was back in london, at the moment that the guys hit the beach for the first time, 6:30 a.m., when i was about 12,000 feet overhead in a b-17 flying fortress. >> reporter: did you know what was going on? >> oh, yes. we knew it was d-day by that time. i didn't know a few hours before that when an air force officer came by the -- my apartment and said, we've got a very dangerous assignment, i can't tell you anything more about it than that, but if you want to come, here we go. and after we got into the car, he said this is d-day. and the air force has a very late mission, the army's asked for some close support behind the beaches from heavy bombers. we weren't trained to do that kind of mission, but a squadron from the 303rd group led by a then-major louis lyle, came over and i was aboard. >> reporter: you had friends, acquaintances, who were killed on d-day? >> oh, quite a few.

quite a few ap including some correspondents, not on d-day, but within a few days of the landing. >> reporter: have you been thinking about them over these past few days? >> oh, you can't but help remember those who have died, you know, suffered the ultimate sacrifice in this thing. correspondents were -- without tooting my own horn at all. i had a -- my motto was let's get the devil out of here. but the guys who went in on d-day here were a brave bunch. they knew what they were getting into, attacking hitler's fortress, and they knew it was going to be tough on the beaches, but they came to do their job of informing the american people. i think we should all honor them. >> reporter: now, you recently wrote an article -- >> walter cronkite there being interviewed by wolf blitzer. walter cronkite dying today. he was, of course -- he took over as anchor of the cbs "evening news" in 1962, and until he retired and was

replaced by dan rather. we actually have one of his executive producers, a former executive producer, susan zarinsky on the phone with us. susan, are you there? >> yes, i am, campbell. >> tell us what it was like to work for the man. >> you know, in the day when blee were all kids and those of us starting under walter, walter embodied the best in everything and the best that you would aspire to. there were three networks at that point and walter was the most important man. you lived and died by what he said, how he wanted pieces to be told. you were answerable to walter. when walter picked up the phone, you were scared to death. but on the other hand, there was a core value in what we did, and, you know, it was a time when one voice mattered. the world we live in now, the proliferation of news, which is great are for the consumer, but it was a different time. one single man mattered above all else. and that's the dynamic of walter. and he had this remarkable

career. he, himself, loved every story he went on. science, space, russian stories. it was just -- it was a -- it was just inspiring to grow up under his watch, because this was the man who was inventing it. so, you know, you felt like at the ground level. and in today's world, it's fantastic to have this many resources. life was a bit simpler, and there were no questions about core values. do you pay for footage. do you pay for interviews. you know, it was a different time and place. and those of us who were fortunate enough to work under him have those -- have that core body -- embodiment of him in our hearts, in our brains. >> what was he like as a person, because you talk about, susan, his enormous influence, and you would think, okay, somebody this incredible has to have an enormous ego, but what was he like as a mentor to someone like you? i mean, now you're the executive producer of "48 hours."

i mean, you were just coming up the ranks. how influential was he on you, personally? >> well, you know, he -- i had the script that he wrote the night nixon resigned from office, and he actually threw it away in the garbage can, and i picked it out and i thought, oh, my, this is history. i've got to keep this. i've got to hold on to this. he was about telling the story. it's about the story. it wasn't about him. it was about what we were covering. and i think that he was not afraid to take on the administration. i mean, you know, everybody remembers when he went to vietnam, and he came back and lyndon johnson turned to his people and he said, if we've lost walter cronkite, we've lost the war. and the -- the -- he embodied every person. he really approached news -- he wasn't a trained broadcaster, he was a trained print reporter. but he wasn't a trained broadcaster. but he knew the written word and

he transferred to it visual impact. he saw the impact when he went to vietnam. he saw the impact on space. i think part of the joy of working with walter, and for those of us that are still around, is that every single day was kind of an adventure. every day he wanted to break something, to show something, and if somebody else broke something, it was, like, power to the people. he picked up the phone. it was a very exciting time. and, you know, quite frankly, the basis of what you do, what people in cable and in network television do, we all came out of the walter cronkite school, whether you know it or not. the power of that single person, of that single heart, of news value, is what we all grow up with, you know? some people may get diverted on the course, but when it comes to the end of the day, walter's voice is kind of rings loud and clear here at cbs, even today. >> and, susan, there was also this incredible love story between he and his wife. tell us a little bit about that.

>> you know, there was a very late birthday party, and george clooney was there for him, and it was a big audience. and they asked him, of all the people you've met, who is the most important person in your life that you have met, and he said, i'd have to say my wife, betsy. you know, that's pretty blow-away for a guy that brought anwr sadat and menachem begin together for the mideast peace talks. this was what walter was. he had this dynamic life. he met every world leader, but the core of betsy and the family and the kids, he knew, he took time with them. you know, he went away for his vacations. he took those -- those vacations. and it really made him a more interesting and grounded person. he was not blinded by the lights. he really saw the value in family. and betsy was his rock. >> and, susan, you know, you talked about when he did speak

out about an issue, the power it had that, you know, how much it conveyed because he so rarely did. and even after he left the air, he did speak out against the war in iraq, though, he said it had reminded him of vietnam. was that ever a struggle for him as an anchor, you know, the objectivity and far different today, as you know in cable news, full of opinion. but he completely set a different standard. >> you know, i think he understood the power and the growing power of the medium. you know, edward r. murrow talked about lights in a box and wires in a box and the power of it. walter was the next generation and, you know, the increasing power during watergate, you know, walter would come down to washington to do all these specials that were breaking on a daily basis. the press during that era, in the '70s, and until nixon resigned, you know, the power of the press was pretty remarkable. vietnam was pretty remarkable.

you -- you know, you were holding people accountable. and for walter, that was the penultimate, that was the deepest value of what a journalist could do. it could shed light. he wasn't there with an agenda. he was there with an honest take of what he saw the situation and thought it was his duty to bring it to the american people. that is the value of a walter cronkite. and, you know, after he left being the anchor, he did feel that he had influence. he really did understand the value of -- of the power of the journalist and the observation. you know, we're observers. that's what we're trained to do. we're supposed to shed light. there's just a lot more flashlights out there now, and sometimes -- just sometimes -- it's harder to have a unique voice. but the cacophony that you and i work in, it's harder today, it's

the nature of the beast. >> susan, it was this week when he announced a man has made it to the moon. let's listen to that. >> rocket tranquillity, we copy you on the ground. >> oh, boy. boy. >> we'll be busy for a minute. >> when that vehicle landed on the moon, i was speechless. i really couldn't say a thing. >> you know, susan, and i -- john roberts is still with us as well. i want to get both of your reaction to that. because you just look at his face. the joy and excitement of witnessing that moment and, of course, the space shuttle takes off all the time now. we take it for granted. and that was such an extraordinary thing. he was very passionate about covering those events, wasn't he? >> you know, there was that scene when they landed and he was kind of speechless and he was wringing his hands, you know, and he just -- he was -- it was joy. and but, you know, walter saw the space program as something else also. walter saw the space program as the embodiment of a country that

needed something to hold on to. and so it became not just about the space program, but it was about the power of the american spirit. and he saw it, and he got it. and he felt it, but then he -- he brought it forth. and just shared it. you know, you know, how when somebody walks in, they're so excited? well, when walter cronkite went on the air on space, you couldn't help but feel that joy. goose bumps almost watching it again. let's watch it again. this is the moment when he announced the assassination of john f. kennedy. >> john kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time. >> john roberts, we didn't share the whole thing there, but an incredibly powerful moment for him. >> and, campbell, here's the thing about walter cronkite. we're trained to be

dispassionate. we're trained to be just the observer. we're trained to keep our emotions out of it. the most amazing thing about walter cronkite was his honesty and his honesty of character and his honesty of journalism. and in that moment, when president kennedy died and he announced the time at 1:00 p.m. and he took off his glasses and you could see the tears welling up in his eyes, it's because he was actually feeling it. it's the same thing that happened, only the opposite end of the scale, on january -- on july 20th, sorry, 1969, when the eagle landed on the moon. and susan was just talking about this. the honesty of his reaction there. you know, he -- he was the newsman who brought the news to america. he was the one who you trusted. and the reason why you trusted him was not because you knew that what walter cronkite was going to tell you was the absolute fact, as he understood it, but that he felt the news as well. he felt the assassination of president kennedy. he felt it the moment that -- the moment that john kennedy

died. and he also felt it that the moment that the man touched down on the moon. and i think that's what made him such an amazing newsman. it was both an inspiration and a frustration for people who were coming up through the business as well. because everybody wanted to be walter cronkite type of journalist, but everyone knew that they could never match walter cronkite, because he was just completely untouchable in the world of journalism. but i think, again, the very core of that was this sense of honesty, and that's why he became the most trusted newsman in america, because anything that came out of walter cronkite's mouth, you could believe, because you knew that he believed in it and that he felt it to his core. >> the authenticity, much more than the performing aspect of it, which you see quite a lot of today i think on television. susan, let me also ask you about him at political conventions, because those are some of my more vivid memories. how much did he enjoy politics? >> he began prepping probably

close to a year before the conventions. there was the normal politics lead-up. he had somebody who was working with him named mark harrington, who has passed away. a fantastic, brilliant guy. and mark would begin literally six months making remarkable cards for walter on every state, on every key person in the delegation. by the time walter got to the convention, it was as if he had studied for the law boards, the med boards, and the gres. he was so versed. mark sat underneath him sort of helping him feed information, and we used to call mark the puppet, and it was great, because walter used to try to step on his hands quite often when he was handing up a card. we invented this clothespin on a poker for mark. but the truth was, he felt this was -- this was the democratic process at work. this was american politics at its best. an the bizarre convention in chicago, when -- when all hell

broke loose and dan rather got beat up on the floor, you know, he really saw it as the empowerment of people. you know, this is what he was able to do. he took large events, he synthesized them in palatable informationable packages for the american people. and that's really -- you know, we all know that when a 9/11 happens and a -- even today, in, you know, with the terrorist bombs overseas, we need information in things we can under. walter got that. you know, listen, it was not the speed of which we work at today, because technology didn't afford us that. i mean, when walter cronkite was doing the "evening news" we were processing film. you would treat a story and it had to be processed in film. so it wasn't until just about the end when we were making the conversion to tape, now it's, you know, do your flip camera and ftp it and we're there. walter's value was he saw

everything as it was. there was an honesty, as john talked about, and, you know, john and i have worked together for years when he was here at cbs. this was the walter cronkite newsroom. it will always be. it star started with murrow, it went to cronkite. we totally embody what walter was about. and -- and, you know, i take pride in the fact that i was a cronkite producer. i take pride in the fact that when i took a cab with walter, he never had money on him and i had to pay. every single time. i took pride in the fact that he was cheap and i loved him for it. he was a remarkable man. and, you know, i think that as the world looks at this person, we have a special, actually, if i can plug it, a special cronkite hour on sunday night at 7:00. it will be in place of "60." i think when you -- when you watch cronkite in your clips that you're playing and our show on sunday night at 7:00, the -- what you see is you live history with this man.

this isn't just a great man who did a great job. this is a man who you watched history and experienced history with. >> that's the way it is, of course, his signature phrase. any idea, susan, where that came from? >> you know, i think he actually -- he talks about this, and he said -- he thought, you know, there's -- there's -- edward r. murrow had "good night and good luck." >> right. >> so, he really kind of wanted a signature. i can't remember the story, but he was quite proud of himself, because it really stuck. actually, that's what we call our special on sunday night "that's the way it was, remembering walter cronkite." i mean, let me tell you something, this was a man who had friendships late in his life with george clooney, nicki hart from the grateful dead and robin williams. it just doesn't get better than that. as a matter of fact, nicki hart, within the last year, had brought walter an entire set of

drums, set it up in his apartment in new york and walter was delighted -- delightful. here was a man who kind of, you know, conducted the boston pops. what happened? so, nicki brought him a set of drums and walter was learning how to play the drums at 92 years old, i might add. >> wow. john roberts, i want to ask you this, because i know this about you, too, you sit behind an anchor desk now, but your heart is often in the field, where you want to be out covering stories. and he was very much the same way. i mean, not an anchor who just sat behind the desk, but he went to vietnam. and it made his remarks, his -- what he said when he was in the anchor chair that much more powerful and that much more influential because he did have a reporter's curiosity and interest in the world that was genuine. >> he didn't just have a reporter's curiosity, campbell. he was the quintessential reporter. he was -- he was like edward r.

murrow. you know, i give a lot of speeches to journalism classes and talk to a lot of young people who would like to aspire to get into our business. and so many of them say to me, you know, how do i become an anchor? and i say, the way to become an anchor is first you have to become a great reporter. >> right. >> gause great reporters make the best anchors. and walter cronkite was the best reporter. absolutely the best reporter. and that's why he made such a great anchor. >> john, stand by for a minute, if you will. charlie gibson is on the phone with us, who is, of course, a great anchor. our friend from abc news. share your favorite story, if you will. >> campbell, it is not unexpected news, but so sad. just when i got on the phone, i heard you make the point of walter as a reporter. i think we are very fortunate in the fact that he, who really became the model for what anchoring an evening newscast would be, came out of a wire service training.

and -- and then after that was one of edward r. murrow's boys and grew up in that training as well during world war ii. so, it really was a very fortunate example that we had set as what an anchor ought to be, and walter was that. as far as the favorite memory is concerned, i had no idea i would ever get the job that i've got now. but i was with walter, oh, i don't know, 10 years ago, 12 years ago, he was grousing about the fact that the evening newscast could promote what they had on the next day. he said, damn-i it, the news is the news and you can't tell me what the news is going to be 24 hours in advance. so, of course, you know, now that i'm in the job, we promote a story for the next day. and -- but every once in a while when we're in our afternoon meetings, we talk about the fact

that we have 20 pounds of potatoes to put into a ten-pound bag and i always vote for killing the promoted piece. and everybody looks around the room, and when we do that, i always say, that was due to walter. >> how much has it changed? i mean, obviously, the business has changed dramatically, but you're in that job now. i mean, is there still very much -- or do you try to emulate what he did in many ways, at least in terms of the journalism and the commitment to what you're saying, killing the promoted piece, when necessary? >> well, it's a -- you know, well, you know, what it's like. this business is tenuous balance between what people need to know and what they want to know. i mean, you look at the orgy of michael jackson coverage. you look at the fact that we do a -- we do a webcast or a podcast every day. and we do the most -- the most searched-for things on google or the fastest-rising searches on

google. and i remember one day somebody walked in and said anna nicole smith is the fastest rising search by a factor of ten of anything we've ever seen. so, those things are things that people are interested in, but you have to do a balance between what people are interested in and what they want to know and what they need to know. and it's a -- because, you know, it's a -- it's a business and you need ratings, et cetera, et cetera. but basically it is what people need to know that you need to keep in mind. and i think that's what walter's example is. >> will there ever be anyone else like him, charlie? can we even have that in the way the business exists today? >> no. because, you know, when he was -- when he was in his -- in his prime, there were really only three networks, and with all due respect to my network, abc wasn't in the game in those days. it was really walter and it was huntley/brinkley. it was those two things. now, the number of news sources has proliferated so greatly. i mean, the cables didn't exist

then. you would be working for a nonexistent organization then, but you are working for what was a nonexistent organization then. but it -- so that kind of concentration doesn't exist, but, you know, there's still a whole lot of people who tune in at 6:30 at night and the abc, cbs, and nbc newscasts will exist, i believe, for quite some period of time. >> charlie gibson with us tonight. charlie, thank you so much. we also have don hewitt on the phone with us now, who is, of course, the longtime executive producer of "60 minutes," and don, just i -- this is just, you know, the obvious question. tell us what walter cronkite meant to cbs news. >> say that again and i'll answer it. i didn't understand some of what you said. >> tell us what he meant, what he meant to cbs news. >> he was the consummate television newsman. he had all the credentials to be

a writer, an editor, a broadcaster. there was only one walter cronkite, and there may never be another one. >> share with us, don, your favorite memory of him. >> my favorite memory of him. there were so many. we covered so many events all over the world together. we were in india. we were in china. we were in japan. we were in australia together. walter had a command of a story and told it in ways that no one else had ever figured out. >> talk to us about the personal side, don. we haven't heard enough of that, i don't think. what was it like to be friends with him? >> it was spectacular.

being friends with walter cronkite was about as high as you could rise in our business, to be his -- his -- his colleague and his friend was a double blessing. >> will there ever be another anchor like him? is it even possible? charlie gibson and i were just talking about this. >> who knows. i mean, who knows. i make it a point to never say never. i look around and i don't see one. but when walter cronkite stepped down, the cbs "evening news" lost a lot of its glitter. >> and was there anything -- what was he most passionate about? was it politics? was it being in the field? was it being behind the anchor