mr. whittington was looking for a downed bird in the tall grass. they were in a line.hat they were hunting. quail is flying across. he swings to the right, and there's mr. whittington in his line of sight. now, that's a violation -- >> did he see him when he hit him? >> well, he didn't see him when he hit him or he wouldn't have pulled the trigger. >> i didn't mean to say that. do you think subliminally -- >> i think that was the case. >> yeah. >> but you don't fire when someone's in your line of sight. >> remember the tag from "love story," "love means never having to say you're sorry?" >> yes. >> did he ever say "i'm sorry?" >> mr. whittington would not say it out loud, but he never said. >> my problem -- this is an accident. that wasn't. thank you. paul fahri, thanks for reporting. when we return, something about those 33 miners and how they were trapped underground in chile and what they taught us underground and what they taught us helping them come out. what a season, what a statement. you're watching "hardball." [ wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? mana

mr. whitman -- whittington. >> what does it tell us about the way they did business as if we didn't knowt the injuries were far more serious than were originally reported? >> well, what we know, ed is that they extracted a, an apology from mr. whittington while he was still at baseline recovery from an injury that his doctor said could very easily have killed him. it came within millimeters. they clearly put tremendous pressure on him not to talk about it. and in texas, a very republican state where this guy is a lawyer who does business in austin the state capital. i mean, clearly he decided that the better part of valor was not to mess with the bush administration or dick cheney. the funny thing is that even now, it's something -- texans i know are saying, wow, what a gutsy guy. he actually said something that might scare or might disturb dick cheney. this is the thing to understand. >> and -- >> he goes after you even when he isn't vice president. >> yeah, and it turns out that they weren't very good friends after all. john nichols of "nation" great to have you with us tonight. thanks

mr. whittington while he was still at baseline recovery from an injury that his doctor said could very easily came within millimeters. they clearly put tremendous pressure on him not to talk about it. he actually said something that might scare or might disturb dick cheney. this is the thing to understand. >> and -- >> he goes after you even when he isn't vice president. >> yeah, and it turns out that they weren't very good friends after all. john nichols of "nation" great ] imagine the possibilities with stelara® for adults. stelara® helps control moderate or severe plaque psoriasis with 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. in a medical study, 7 out of 10 stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin at 12 weeks. and 6 out of 10 patients had their plaque psoriasis rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections, like tuberculosis, require hospitalization. before starting stelara®, your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your d

. >> but whittington clarifies that statement to the post saying it was more of a sense of disappointment that it happened at all. i'm sure it must have been difficult for mre same way. since the shooting, cheney and whittington haven't seen each other for years, only exchanging birthday greetings. asked if cheney ever apologized to him personally, whittington simply said i'm not going to go into that. so, john, what does that sound like to you? >> you know, it sounds like dick is mad for ruining his shot, you know what i mean? like tiger when somebody makes ay noise on his backswing. you know what i mean? i had the bird. thank you. great. no, really. thank you. appreciate that. >> that's why mr. whittington had to go and publicly apologize. >> i'm sorry, dick, i lost a a quail for you. >> it was much more serious than we knew at the time. the white house clamped down on that information. it was like pulling teeth and cheney was secretive about it. i think in some ways he was trying to protect a friend but also is very secretive about things. >> dick knows how bad it was. you shoot somebody, you go and shake their hand. eight years, six years later. >> fou