one thing michael dobbs said was one of his regrets was he did not give enough geppettos. i regret that giving as many as i could. there are so many countries statements out there that i have not really found the opportunity to do it. i think i have maybe four or five in the course of a year. >> who is geppetto? >> he was the woodcarver. he told the truth. the idea is that he means the statement is correct. >> you have been around this game for how long total, in journalism? >> i have always told friends that if i ever write an autobiography it will be titled "waiting for people to lie to me." it is human nature to embellish or exaggerate, particularly in politics or wall street. you want to spend things your own way. whether or not they are deliberately lying, i think that if a politician says the same thing over and over again even when it has been pointed out that it is untrue, that they know they are saying something untrue. they will just say it anyway. >> what you think of this job so far? >> some say i have the best job in journalism. i enjoy it. i get up in the mor

the idea pinocchio, the brain child of the person who originated this column, michael dobbs, former "washington post" reporter, now a book writer, also with a career writing about foreign policy. >> how did you get into it? >> well, the editors came to me and said they wanted to revive the idea as a permanent feature with a broader focus and i had been cover iing diplomacy for years. i had been political news correspondent for newsday, covered budget and economics and covered just about every building in washington. i had done a little pentagon stuff and covered the transportation department. after 30 years of writing with washington institutions and very many in a great deal of subjects, i was in a position to try to tackle this on and, you know, i feel like i'm taking the basic knowledge i've built up over all these years of reporting and i now apply it on a daily basis to a wide range of subjects. you name it and i will write about it. >> how often do you give a gepetto out and what is that? >> a gepetto is when the statement is true. one thing michael dobbs said to me before i too

michael dillon. >> after giving the statement on the night of the shooting, he was picked up by police officers, night and day until he changed his statement. >> the dobbserry detectives kept asking me to do the same questions over and over again. >> here's what dylan told police. >> to my best recollection, the black guy was swinging the bat at the older male when the shots were fired. >> the jury never heard that. dylan testified that he was not swinging the bat. another key witness who refused to change his story and was not called to testify was james white. >> they told me other people said this and that and i said but i'm not interested in what other people said. i'm telling you what i saw and this is the truth. >> white was standing in the deli and he saw charles campbell not as victim, but as aggressor. >> they're held him down only as long as it took for him to cease attacks. once he did that, they would let him up. >> white said that's when campbell got the bat, swinging at the elder. >> i'm looking at him saying my god, he's going to kill him. >> the jury never heard that version either. they found the autopsy report supported white's story.

michael dylan. >> i saw about four guys -- >> after giving his original statement on the night of the shooting, he was picked up by police officers, night and day, until he changed his statement. >> the dobbs ferry detectives just kept asking me the same questions over and over again, night after night. it was like an interrogation. >> reporter: here's what dylan originally told police. >> to my best recollection, the black guy was swinging the bat at the older male when the shots were fired. >> reporter: but the jury never heard that. instead, dylan testified at trial that campbell wasn't swinging the bat. another key witness, who refused to change his story and was not called to testify, was james white. >> they were telling me that other people said this and other people said that, and i said, but i'm not interested in what other people said. i'm telling you what i saw and this is the truth. >> reporter: white was standing inside the deli, and he saw charles campbell not as victim, but as aggressor. >> they held him down, only as long as it took for him to cease attacking. and once he did that, they would let him up. >> reporter: white says that's when campbell got the bat, swinging at