. >> presidential press secretary ron ziegler called it a third raitt burglary attempt. >> ron zieglerburglary, that was the tipoff to us. there seemed to be nothing third-rate about it except they got caught. >> they raised the stakes so high. with this third-rate burglary nonsense. it was apparent that something here was really rotten. nixon assigned his top lieutenants the president's men the task of managing the fallout from the break-in. among them chief of staff bob haldeman and presidential adviser john ehrlichman would become the guardians of the clandestine activities. ehrlichman begins to monopolize more and more of their time. we know that because nixon had a secret tape recording system in the oval office. >> what's the dope on the watergate incident? >> there's nothing new. >> because i think the country doesn't give much of a [ bleep ] about it. and most people around the country think that this is routine, everybody's trying to bug everybody else. it's politics. >> the great thing about this is it is so totally [ bleep ] up and so badly done that nobody believes that we

. >> everybody began to realize that this wasn't just a third-rate burglary, as ron ziegler, president delivered as hush money and i think that's what really got to the american public. >> americans have been hearing about watergate since the scandal broke last june, but most have only recently begun paying attention all in the family. >> i'm up to here with watergate. i'm drowning water gate. >> archie, the whole country's drowning in watergate. >> the president has access, actually, to turn down all thermostats. his critics claim he'll do anything to get the heat off. >> the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and the louder they laugh. and that's what nixo it was a personal tragedy. >> things got worse and worse in the white house. can you describe now that atmosphere for us? >> it was really like being besieged because every day there were new charges and rumors. my father was being buffeted by a whole windfall of charges and countercharges. >> almost every day recently, the watergate has produced its quota of sensation. >> i was so upset that he was so upset that he was closing

that was ron ziegler, press secretary. he's at camp david too the president now feels very strongly and john and i should volunteer to resign. >> for our complete american history tv schedule, go to -span.org. >> this weekend, booktv features a panel discussion on race in america on saturday at 5:15 p.m. eastern moderated by april ryan, washington bureau chief for american urban radio networks and author of "aunt norma's knee" and "the presidency in black and white." >> these two ladies here, i remember them marching for us, talking for us when we didn't have voices. basically let us know we count, we matter in a time when many of us are not at the table. what did shirley chisholm say if you don't have a seat at the table, bring a folding chair? >> also, mary francis berry, author of "$5 and a pork chop sandwich." the awor of "they can't kill us all." and the author of "are we better off." winning pulitzer prize author david mckohl luff talks about his award winning collection of speeches. >> i began thinking a about the g