sell -- >> monica lewinsky, lewinsky still way up there. >> i always wondered if the reason that iran-contraa huge squal dan is because, a, it's high me nighted, but b, the two hyphenated places like the contras over here and iran over here, they are far away. they don't feel connected. they are both -- >> yes. it was hard to follow. >> it was hard to follow. >> and they liked reagan. when he made that statement they kind of went, oh, yeah, i get it. he's old. he's been shot. he means well. he's a nice guy. you know, all that -- >> i would sell weapons to the iranians, too, i guess. if i was -- yeah. a, it was a really big scandal, and the senior officials are getting indicted, people are going to prison, george h.w. bush had to pardon everybody and then george w. bush hired them all back. but it was a really big scandal. and in trying to tamp down the scandal, the thing that is, i think most important for the overall thing that i'm writing is reagan's administration is trying to save his butt. we're talking about nixon earlier, the way that nixon explained what happened in watergate is well

there was a dissent to iran-contra. actually that crazy line about how the president doing it, it's by definition legal, the president can do anything related to national security with no legal constraint without having to consult anybody and do it in private and it just doesn't matter? the one person who said actually i believe that is a wyoming congressman named dick cheney. and which didn't mean anything when he was just the wyoming congressman named dick cheney. he went on to be secretary of defense, vice president, and that became, again, what should have been an abhoration became normal. it never should have survived anything other than that scandal. >> don't you like foreshadowing. >>> that was me with the great bill maher talking about my book. i have to say, it's been turned out to be really fun.

. >> what fs your husband's role in iran-contra. >> nothing. >> he was president of the united states. >> it was what -- i don't know enough about iran-contra, mike, to talk to you intelligently about it. all i know is that he did not think he had done anything wrong. he didn't know of anything that was going on. >> you're going to be in japan and i'm told it's a $2 million two weeks. >> they're getting two of us. they're working us like crazy. >> but it's going to be a well recompensed two weeks. >> it is for esh who goes there, which you probably know. now you really didn't need that question. >> nancy reagan released a statement yesterday saying in part, quote, my parents introduced me to mike more than 75 years ago and we've been fast friends ever since. mike was an old school journalist and one of the most astute people i've ever met. the news business will be a different place now and our lives will forever be changed for having known him. >>> and in his last 60 minutes assignment wallace sat down with, get this, baseball star roger clemens. it was his first interview after a re

. >> what was your husband's role in iran-contra? >> nothing. i mean -- >> he was president of the united states. >> it was what -- i don't know enough about iran-contra, mike, to talk to you intelligently about it. >> you're going to be in japan and i'm told it's a $2 million two weeks. >> they're getting two of us. >> it's going to be a well-recompensed two weeks. >> it is for everybody who goes there. which you probably know. and you really didn't need that question. >> reporter: wallace would convince the famous to join him. famously asking them what others had not. >> you really believe that you lived lives before and -- >> oh, yes, mike. i don't -- there's no doubt in my mind about it. >> and you really believe in extraterrestrials. do they come visit you on the porch? now you're being unpleasant, wallace, is what you're saying? >> yes. this is what i was a little afraid of. you don't have to be that unpleasant. it doesn't become you. >> reporter: and then there were the stars who famously gave it back. >> do i have to put shoes on? >> lea

. >> what was your husband's role in iran contra? >> nothing. >> as president of the united states -- >> it was what -- i don't know enough about iran contra, mike, to talk to you intelligently about it. >> wallace interviewed friends and foes president and dictators and heros. >> i am probably a dead man already. >> he said recently at this moment arafat is the christ of the palestinian people. >> leave the shoes off and start the interview, please. >> they say i am difficult? >> unquestionably one of the great news men of our time. mike wallace is dead at the age of 93. >> thank you very much. joining us on the phone now a personal friend of mike wallace they also worked together for many years. former cbs news president joe tierman. thank you for being with us tonight. >> thank you. >> first a passing of a friend. >> it is a sad day for us personally here. we both worked at cbs news my wife and i worked with him for many, many years. it is a very sad day for cbs family. and for all media world mike wallace was an original figure.

. >> what was your husband's role in the iran-contra? that you lived lives before? >> oh, yes. there is no doubt in my mind about it. >> can you really believe in extraterrestrial, do they come visit you on the porch? now you're being unpleasant, wallace, this is what you're saying. >> this is what i was afraid of. you don't have to be that unpleasant. it doesn't become you. >> you have to establish the context.... >> reporter: but his long tenure at cbs was not without its low points. in 1982 general william west more land sued wallace and the network for libel over their documentary the uncounted enemy, a vietnam deception. it accused the general of deliberately falsifying enemy strength. west moreland dropped his libel suit in 1985 after long trial. in 1996 wallace opened up about the trial and the toll it took on his mental health. >> if there's anything that's important to a reporter, it is integrity. it is credibility. and all of a sudden to sit in a federal courtroom for five months in new york city with all those people from the

. >> what was your husband-- iran-contra. >> nothing. >> he was president of the united states. >> i don't know enough about iran-contra, mike, to talk to you intelligently about it. >> wallace interviewed friends and foes, dictators and city counc council-- scoundrels. >> he said recently, arafat is the christ of the palestinian people. >> leave the shoes and start the interview, please. >> they say i'm difficult? >> unquestionably one of the great interviewers. >> joining us on the phone now, a personal friend of mike wallace and they worked together for years. former cbs news vice-president joe peerman, joe, thanks a lot for being with us tonight. you're with us. >> thank you. >> absolutely, first, the passing of a friend. your sentiment? >> well, it's a very sad day for us, personally, here, we both worked at cbs news, my wife and i and worked with him for many, many years, but it's a very sad day for the cbs family and for all media world, this to mike wallace was an original figure. there was no one like him as a business and he inspired thousands of journalists, along the way,

. >> what was your husband's role in iran-contra? >> nothing. i mean, it was -- >> he was president of the united states. >> it was what -- i don't know enough about iran-contra, mike, to talk to you intelligently about it. all i know is that he did not think he had done anything wrong. he didn't know of anything that was going on. >> you're going to be in japan and i'm told it a $2 million two weeks. >> tl they're getting two of us. they're working us like crazy. >> but it's going to be a well r recompenced two weeks. >> it is for everyone who goes there. which you probably already know. now, you really didn't need that question. >> he had undergone triple bypass surgery. he wanted his epitaph to read, tough but fair. mike wallace was 9 3 years old. c'mon dad! i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she he

hoping he can get into those sweet weapons deal from republicans like reagan gave iran during the iran contra affair some people say that awkward in a johns fund raising could be enough rope to buy romney our election so here we have ten or even twenty million dollars anonymously handed over to karl rove to defeat president obama and the democrats this november and beyond what some people are saying most likely will never know who gave that money or what strings are attached to it we want to know if it's a hedge fund billionaire who's demanding the republicans keep the romney rule capital gains tax loophole lied open we want to know if it's an oil baron who wants republicans to keep the taxpayer oiled subsidies to his industry flowing we want to know if it's a war profiteer who wants republicans to keep the never ending war on terror going and keep up the high demand for cruise missiles and we won't know if as some people are saying the donations are from rogue dictators who are making secret deals with the republican party like you did back in one nine hundred eighty we just won't ever know

. >> what was your husband's role in the iran/contra. >> he was president of the united states -- >>at -- i don't know enough about iran/contra, mike, to talk to you intelligently about it. >> you're going to be in japan and i'm told it's a $2 million two weeks. >> they are getting two of us -- >> it's going to be a well recompensed two weeks. >> it is for everybody who goes there. which you probably know. you really didn't need that question. >> reporter: wallace would convince the famous to join him and then there were the stars who famously gave it back. >> do i have to put shoes on? >> leave the shoes off, paul, and start the interview, please. >> they say i'm difficult. >> he was born in brookline, massachusetts. his father a grocer perlong after becoming a defining face of television, he'd open up about his own fight against depression. >> i didn't realize myself how bad it was. i was lower than a snake's belly. >> reporter: our own cleel diane sawyer, the first woman to join mike on the broadcast said his energy and nerve outpaced everyone at "60 minutes." he bounded through t

. >> what was your husband's role in the iran contra? >> nothing. i mean -- >> well, he was president of the united states. >> it was what -- i don't know enough about iran contra, mike, to talk to you intelligently about it. all i know is that he did not think he had done anything wrong. he didn't know of anything that was going on. >> you're going to be in japan, and i'm told it's a $2 million two weeks. >> they're getting two of us. they are working us like crazy. >> but it's going to be a well-recompensed for two weeks. >> it is for everybody who goes there, which you probably know. now you really didn't need that question. >> i love it. >> ice. >> i remember watching that, and at the time i had no idea how close they were. but that just speaks volumes to who mike wallace was, that he was toughest on his friends. even if it meant putting his friendships at risk. >> you know, i was doing research for a book on muhammad ali and i went back and watched his old interviews with malcolm x for a long series that he did long before there was "60 minutes

. >> it was what -- i don't know enough about iran contra, mike to talk to you intelligently about it he had done anything wrong. he didn't know of anything going on. >> you're going to be in japan and i'm told it's a $2 million two weeks. >> they're getting two of us. they're working us like crazy. >> it's going to be a well recompensed two weeks. >> it is for everybody there. you really didn't need to ask that question. >> there she is getting nailed by her buddy. >> nothing stopped him from asking the heart of the question whatever it was, whether it was his friend. they were really close friends and had been from the time they were young. he went after his bosses. that tobacco story. he went right after the big boss. one of the bravest things he did was come forward to the public and tell everybody he had depression. he did it when it was a stigma. he was one of the first public people to do that. he was an astonishing man. i mean it only in the most positive way. >> i say all those good things about you too. what a great figure he was for us. mike wallace, this weekend we lost hi

. >> i know enough about iran contra to talk to you about it. >> he called you, his words, not mine, a lune tick. was there anything the secret service cowl have done to keep that from happening? >> i think that you will agree that a good many people hated your husband. they even hated you. >> were you afraid of what might happen to you? >> oh, yes. i probably am a dead man already. >> reporter: he ban in the 1940s and made his way to tv in the 50s. he was hired by don hewitt when he was you putting to get "60 minutes," which went on to become the most successful news program. he retired in 2006. he covered presidents and dictators, actors and artists. he covered the war in vietnam and sad down with nixon's aide during the watergate scandal. he died last night in connecticut, he was 93 years old. steve centanni, fox news. >> in 2005, fox news sunday host chris wallace sat down with his dad on his own show. here's some of that. >> and you don't retire because? >> because i love -- it is not work, what i do. i love what i do. when i get up in the morning and i think, i am going to have

something that he at the time he did it said we will be impeached for what we're doing, talking about iran-contrayet while reagan won reelection and has today an enormous following he is rated quite highly in that survey you describe of jimmy carter is ready quite low because he is a loser . the business of america, there is nothing that americans disrespect as much. >> live from the los angeles times festival books. this is the largest book festival in the united states. the organizers say about 150,000 people will be here. a lot of crowds. right in the thick of things here. >> a lot of yelling. >> you're doing fine. how many years have you been at this? >> excuse me? >> how many years have you been out here for the festival? >> this is my fifth the sixth appearance. i, i have a book. >> what does participation in an event like this do for an author? >> well, i think mostly what it does, it makes me feel better about what i do. the people who put the effort into organizing these, the tree you very well. a beautiful room with lots of nice food. you get to see people do not otherwise see. it's lik

it's like iran-contra or something.'s a self- perpetuating element involved like, uh... nano technology. okay, you know when you stack up champagne glasses and fill them with champagne? you only pour the champagne into the top glass and then it overflows to the others. requires resources applied in one location, then it spreads. oh, good god, another one? (chuckles) what he means is, is that the conspiracy starts at a single source but can then spread. alan: that's right, because the supervisors oversee the county budget. i mean, they oversee everything the county buys, which includes... voting equipment. brasher could definitely make sure the county only buys their machines. yeah, and with l.a. county's huge population, rigged voting machines here could make the difference in a statewide election. you know what they say: as california goes, so goes the country. this tuttle... wants to be a kingmaker. hey. megan just got a report from tru-poll systems. that's the company that makes the electronic voting machines. uh-huh

and so that whole situation when we finally negotiated that event, that event led into the iran contra after we paid them $8 billion, iran said this is a pretty good deal. we just took these hostages, now we need weapons to fight the iraqis, that became the iran contra affair. so that situation that started november 4th of 1979, um, those are things that i will never forget. i can, i'm sitting here telling you the story, and i can still remember the smells of how we had to urinate on ourself as we were being escorted around the country of iran blindfolded, not knowing where we were going. so there are things that you just, you never forget. i'm telling you a story, but bill, the guy that was in the room with me for those days, will ever know the true life of that story. jenna: we're looking at some photos of you when you returned home, and i'm curious what goes through your mind when you hear about the negotiations with iran and their nuclear program? what do i yo think about that? >> well, jenna, iran has had sanctions against them for 33 years. so i've got to ask you, you think they'

years ago michael kelly, the late michael kelly, brought fawn hall who was at the center of the iran-contra. >> to that point, your guests, media organizations, would bring their sources. they would bring government officials, they would bring newsmakers. in hindsight fawn hall was a legitimate newsmaker but she had a real who had wood glamour about her. she was gorgeous. after that it began creeping up where people would bring more and more glamorous people. a couple years later it was marla maple tz ws who really waa washington newsmaker at all. then by the '90s it was just an explosion of hollywood celebrity. but it's even ramped up even more in the last five years. >> it is a thing for a celebrity to do now. it is a stop. it is a great way to say i was here. you get out of their box a little bit. it gives them a little seriously even though -- >> something about the seriousness -- kim kardashian, lindsay lohan this year? >> this is kim kardashian's second trip to the white house correspondents' dinner. i know white house correspondents who can't get a ticket to this dinner. i mean it is

>> it was what -- i don't know enough about iran contra, mike to talk to you intelligently about it.are going to be in japan and i am told it's a $2.02 weeks. >> you really didn't need that question. >> so david, i got one question for you: if mike wallace is the standard bearer for journalism which everyone has said over the weekend, why does no one follow his example and instead just pitch softballs to politicians time after time? >> it's such a fair question and it's the question that needs to be asked. you can't honor mike wallace's legacy and also walk in the footsteps that goo away from mike wallace's legacy. >> that's to say you can't say mike wallace is the icon of american journalism and be somebody who is in the media world who doesn't live mike wallace's ethos. mike wallace's ethos was to ask the toughest possible questions. and i said on my radio show this morning, he was one of the last real journalists in my estimation who is really working in america. i think that mike wallace, if we are going to remember him, let's just not remember what he did but if we are going to

we grow up hearing about watergate, we see iran contra, we grow up older -- >> are you suggesting we're same age? >> no, i'm older than you, dylan. but the point remains that the generation "x" in particular has never had a chance for political innocence. this is just one of those things that continues to scrape away and justify the cynicism that we have always had. >> and, again, it goes back to what i was saying earlier, the response to despair is action. and the problem right now is where you're getting despair in the response of disengagement or hope. neither of which actually repair the problem, which is why it's actually been nice to travel around. you meet people that are taking action in the face of despair as opposed to simply disengaging or sort of talking without walking. straight ahead, for the nonlawmakers turn wealthy lobbyists, economics changing the family unit. you've heard of boomerang kids, our specialist with a whole profile of what she calls the accordion family. [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new

remember in 1988, everybody thought vice president bush was doomed because of iran contra, which wasd dominated the news for a year. '96, republicans spent a lot of time complaining about the clinton-gore fundraising scandals and were genuine scandals and much more personally implicated bill clinton and gore. but bush won in '88 and clinton won in '9 #. this election will be more about the policy going forward than particular scandals that happened. >> chris: owe? >> i think it's right. i think to the extent people have more distaste about government, and more distaste about corruption scandals, that doesn't hurt anybody who is in. so it can actually have a bigger impact on the congressional races around the country than it may on the presidency. but i do think the republicans can't put too much in to this and try to exploit it too much. >> chris: karl, i have a couple of questions i want to ask you. first of all, you worked in the white house for almost seven years. did you ever see any signs of a breakdown in secret service discipline? especially, did you ever hear anything about a

he was as director of communication during the iran-contra scandal and left the reaganite ministrationcitizen and agree upon it, great columnist and in 1893 and three times for president. i want to discuss that a little bit later but had. and during that time became really the face of the conservative states in the republican party and conservative to america. so buchanan's life if you want to do a history of the conservative movement in america, you do very well to read pat buchanan's life, a very good primer. the second conclusion i reached was that buchanan is some was as much a social thought as it was an ideology. the kind of people who were drawn in the 1990s campaign for pat buchanan were as much a reflection of a particular time and a particular tomography as they were of a sacrifice. in 1996, pat buchanan won new hampshire, the bacher primary had the high point of his presidential career. his voters were most likely to have been employed, the most likely to be independent, very often when the mill independent vote and crucially the most likely to have been previously registere

prosecution of people in watergate, top aides to nixon, and it was used in connection with the iran-contrasecution. so that the statute that is well-established that i'm not talking about should they have passed an act, should they have not passed this act. we don't have to go there. i'm just talking about the laws that are on the books right now. and why aren't they being in force when it comes to the president of the united states? the our books, there are laws on the books right now about bank fraud. and they weren't being enforced. and the american people were very upset about that. we're not talking about any new laws. we don't have to go the. i'm not saying we shouldn't go there. i'm just talking about what message is sent in the future if the laws we had that prohibit torture, that prohibit illegal wiretapping, that prohibit a president from defrauding the congress into going into war, and not enforced. what does it say to another president? what's the next war we're going to go into on the basis of fraud? or the next wiretapping, or the next torture. and maybe the torture won't be

presidente barack obama, Él anunciÓ en el marco de la cumbre de las amÉricas que habrÁ mas sanciones contra irÁne los tornados por el medio oeste del paÍs, miles de personas comenzaron a hacer labores de limpieza por los mÁs de 100 tornados, las fuertes tormentas dejaron mÁs de 100 heridos, tenemos los testimonios de quÉ pasÓ >>> casi 100 tornados sacudieron el fin de semana a comunidades del centro occidente de estados unidos, los tornados, en alguasn Áreas, recorrieron hasta 250 millas, las tormentas dejaron sin energÍa elÉctrica a cientos de miles de personas, lo prÓximo que supe, la casa estaba temblando y sentÍ que se elevÓ. >>> tambiÉn se reportaron tormentas en kansas, iowa y nebraska. >>> alrededor de ela 1 de la madrugada, escuhamos un ruido horrible y el cuarto de atrÁs se habÍa despegado de la casa. >>> las tormentas comenzaron en la tarde del sÁbado y se fortalecieron en la noche. >>> incluso hasta se vio dos tornados en una misma tormenta. >>> los torbellinos fueron tan reaccionar.e la mayorÍa no pudo >>> no, solo escuchamos mucho ruido y fueron segundos. >>> para los que tuvieron t

. >> it was what -- i don't know enough about iran contra, mike, to talk to you intelligently about its you imam, for give me, his words, not mine. a lunatic. was there anything that the secret service could have done to keep that from happening? >> i think that you would agree that a good many people hated your husband. >> are you the least bit afraid of what might happen to you as a result of making theses revealations? >> oh, yes. i probably am a dead man already. >> a skeptical topup question. ual loss got to the heart of the matter and tossed tough questions at his friends like ronald and nancy regan. he made the move to tv in the 50s and got a break in 1958 when was the first hire of producer don hewitt putting together 60 minutes which, of course, went on to become the most successful news program for decades. he hosted the program for 38 seasons until he retired as a regular correspondent in 2006. the show pioneered the use of ambush interviews but wallace later said they produced much drama and very little information. over his long career he covered the vietnam war. he interv

he said this to i tothe iyatoll during the iran contra affair. >> a religiously devout man, a muslim now is, quote, a disgrace to islam and he calls you, imam, forgive me, his words, not mine, a lunatic. >> reporter: media critics say wallace's attack dog style was relentless. >> sometimes he's gone too far. he used hidden camera investigations. he really taught generations of younger journalists about how to go get that story. >> reporter: in 2006, he took on a smaller role on "60 minutes" and by 2008 had triple bypass surgery and retired from public life. >> if you had made your living in the early days of black and white television, as i said, you thought sometimes it was a little like the early days of flying. >> reporter: but his relationship with sbts viewers spanned decades. and he'll have an ever lasting impact on the field of journalism. mike wallace was 93. >> love him. cnn "news room" continues right now with ashleigh been afield. hey, ashleigh. >> i'm in for brooke baldwin today. everything making news this hour. "rapid fire" let's go. here's where we start the big headli

it started in 1987 during the iran-contra scandal when the document shredded secretary was invited andhen dona rice attended as a guest and it was her affair with gary hart that ended his presidential bid. after those two pop culture figures attended, the floodgates were open to all sorts of celebrities who could get a headline for the media organization that was inviting them. they are invited by the media tables that pay for the tables and not the white house. that's why we have seen ozzy osbourne and kim kardashian. this year looks star studded. george clooney is there. stevie wonder. martha stewart. kelly raipa. even lindsay lohan made the list. most of my cast from "modern family" is expected to be there as well. there will be a family of tv stars worth respecting. >> back in the day you just invited some boring congressman to go with you and today it's kim kardashian. >> yeah. >> so strange. let's talk about something good. the stars of "modern family." they are going to host some big music awards show, right? >> the billboard music award show. i'm thrilled with this choice. they