>> it keeps reminding me of ron ziegler calling waterte a third rate burglary. obviously there's something there, systematic errors going on. hean keep calling it phony. the news can cover up his heinie but not everyone. fox will go after him and others and perhaps this whole scope will come out. by the way, i want to give you another related scandal or what's brewing to be trouble in the case of benghazi. now cnn doing that, but i gress. what do you make of this? it's in your interest to say this scandal if you want to call it that is phonybecause then you're giving more power to the irs would be it. >> absolutely. and part of what was going on here was that the white house was using the federal election commission to target a specific conservative group. it was the american issues project and now we fi out that the federal eleion commission or people the were in touch with the woman at the irs who's overseeing the conservative targeting within that agency. so, again, not only does now smell bad at the irs. that stench is now moving from one government organiza

. >> reporter: a few days earlier nixon tells his spokesman ron ziegler that he had no role in the scandal. >> let me say we can have confidence that the president was not involved. >> you know that. >> yes, i do. i absolutely do. >> reporter: in mid-may, the pressure builds as a senate committee begins watergate hearings. in the oval office, the president mocks the accents of committee southerners. >> now, what does this mean, mr. haldeman? what's this mean? screw it! >> nixon is caught in the web he created, and half of him knows that he broke the law, abused his power, and the other half of him is the defense lawyer trying to deny it. >> reporter: but the tapes also capture the richard nixon who built the bridge to china. >> we've got to get along with them. or -- it's no problem for the next five years or the next 20 year, but it's the critical problem for our age. >> reporter: the tapes end july 12th, when the system is publicly revealed. richard nixon hangs on 13 months more. pete williams, nbc news, washington. >>> when we come back here tonight, the fix is in. a do it yourself move

. >> reporter: a few days earlier nixon tells his spokesman ron ziegler that he had no role in the scandal>> let me say we can have confidence that the president was not involved. >> you know that. >> yes, i do. i absolutely do. >> reporter: in mid-may, the pressure builds as a senate committee begins watergate hearings. in the oval office, the president mocks the accents of committee southerners. >> now, what does this mean, mr. haldeman? what's this mean? screw it! >> nixon is caught in the web he created, and half of him knows that he broke the law, abused his power, and the other half of him is the defense lawyer trying to deny it. >> reporter: but the tapes also capture the richard nixon who built the bridge to china. >> we've got to get along with them. or it's no problem for the next five years or the next 20 year, but it's the critical problem for our age. >> reporter: the tapes end july 12th, when the system is publicly revealed. richard nixon hangs on 13 months more. pete williams, nbc news, washington. >>> when we come back here tonight, the fix is in. a do it yourself movement

here is president nixon giving some of those very marching orders to his press secretary ron ziegler in 1972. >> i want it clearly understood that from now on no reporter from "the washington post" is ever to be in the white house. is that clear? >> absolutely. >> never in the white house. no church service. you tell connie, don't tell mrs. nixon because she'll approve it. no reporter from "the washington post" is ever to be in the white house again. and no photographer either. no photographers. is that clear? >> yes, sir. >> none ever to be in. now that is a total order and if necessary i'll fire you. do you understand? >> i do understand. >> okay. all right. good. >> okay. >> thank you. >> there's this great moment from that period where one of nixon's aides tells karl bernstein that katie graham, the publisher of "the post" is going to get caught in a big fat wringer if that story is published. we published that quote or most of it anyway. >> he was talking to a reporter? >> i think i woke him up. >> good notes? >> verbatim. >> you really said that about mrs. graham? print it. it'

. >> it's kind of funny when i cammed ziegler, i sat down in my room and i told him that i. ed to meet with the chairman at his residence. ronng a tangerine in his hand. he took a bite of it, getting about half the tangerine in one bite. peel and all. he was, to say the least, a little startled. also spenglated on all the wide range of possibilities that you have when your sitting in a chinese guest house with red army troops guarding you outside. >> included is an evening at the peking opera to see a ballet, the red detachment of women, that depicts the overthrow of a cruel overlord by female communist partisans. >> the evening ball lie performance was quite an experience. a complete propaganda operation. extremely well done. the interpret seed behind me explained the ool logical aspects of ballet all the way through to be sure i understood all the points. it was a rather odd sight to see the president clapping at the end for this kind of thing, which would have been who fig at home. but it it all seems to fit together somehow here. >> skies have been somber all day and in peking. and it seemed to have no dimming effect at

when i called ziegler, i sat him down in my room and i told him i wanted to know that if president had left. ron about half the tangerine in one bite, peel and all. he was, to say the leasts, a little startled. also speculated on all the wild range of possibilities you have when you're sitting in a chinese guest house with red army troops guarding you outside. >> included is an evening, the red detachment of women that depicts it overthrow by female communist partisans. >> the evening ballet performance was quite an experience. a complete propaganda operation. extremely well done. he had interpreters behind me explain the theological aspects of the ballet all the way through. he wanted to be sure i understood all of the points. that was a rather odd sight to see the president clapping at the end for this kind of thing which would have been horrifying at home. but it all kind of seemed to fit together somehow here. >> the skies have been somber in peking all day, and in the afternoon a light snow began to fall. in the city streets, men and women with brooms began sweeping it up, almost flake by f