. >> the members of the warren commission, earl warren, john sherman cooper, jerry ford, alan dulles,ussell, and john j. mccoy realized at their initial meeting they had to do an independent investigation. they didn't want to be a stamp for the fbi or the secret service. >> there are three issues the commission had to grapple with. did oswald commit the physical act of the murder? and even if he did the physical act, did he have forces behind him? and then of course, what's ruby's involvement in this? >> you had various branches of the investigation traveling, interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, bringing it back to the commission. >> let's see. the time of day was about -- well we're not very far, two hours from it. >> there were questions how would they deal with the different stories about shooters from the grassy knoll and shooters from different directions. >> the lawyers from the commission took 395 depositions. and there were 94 witnesses that appeared before the commission. lyndon johnson wants the report out so it doesn't interfere with the election in november. >> wa