. >> on march 21st, john dean walked into the oval office to give a blent assessment of what this wasthe desk as he often did and looking around his shoes at me. >> i have the impression you don't know everything i know, and it makes it very difficult for you to make judgments that only you can make. >> and after that remark, his feet were solidly on the floor. he slid the chair up, and i had his full attention. i knew at that point, he knew something, but i didn't know how much. i'm warning him. he's got problems. with good news, i was about to share, that there was a cancer on his presidency. >> we have a cancer within close to the presidency that's growing. it's growing daily. >> he kind of just absorbs that for a minute, thinks about it, and as the conversation goes on, and i say, you know, mr. president, i don't know where this will end. it's just going to keep going up. >> the senate investigation was closing in on the president. to distance himself from the coverup, nixon needed scapegoats. >> in one of the most difficult decisions of my presidency, i accepted the resignations