>>> TONIGHT IS THE RIGHT TIME TO LOOK BACK AT A KEY PIECE OF
REPORTING BY THE "WASHINGTON
POST" DURING THEIR INVESTIGATION
OF THE WATERGATE SCANDAL THAT
BROUGHT DOWN PRESIDENT NIXON.
AND THIS PIECE OF REPORTING WAS
DISPUTED BY THE NIXON WHITE
HOUSE AND USED BY THE NIXON
WHITE HOUSE TO TRY TO DISCREDIT
ALL REPORTING ON THE NIXON
SCANDALS, BECAUSE THIS REPORTING
WAS PROVED TO BE WRONG.
AT LEAST IN PART.
BOB WOODWARD AND CARL BERNSTEIN
BECAME TWO OF THE MOST RESPECTED
JOURNALISTS IN HISTORY BECAUSE
OF THEIR REPORTING ON WATERGATE.
BUT THEY ONCE GOT A KEY FACT
WRONG IN ONE STORY, AND IT LED
TO AN ATTACK FROM THE KNICKS
SGRON WHITE HOUSE.
IN OCTOBER 1972, THEY PUBLISHED
A PIECE REPORTING THAT RICHARD
NIXON’S WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF
STAFF, HR HAULEDERMAN WAS ONE OF
FIVE AUTHORIZED TO APPROVE
PAYMENTS FROM A SECRET NIXON
CAMPAIGN CASH FUND.
ACCORDING TO THEIR REPORT, THE
FUND HAD BEEN USED FOR PAYMENTS
TO THE MEN WHO BURGLARIZED THE
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
HEADQUARTERS.
HEADQUARTERS. THE REPORT ATTRIBUTED ITS
INFORMATION TO, QUOTE, FEDERAL
INVESTIGATORS AND ACCOUNTS OF
SWORN TESTIMONY BEFORE THE
WATERGATE GRAND JURY.
AND THE SOURCING WAS INCORRECT.
AS CARL BERNSTEIN LATER
EXPLAINED ON MPR.
>> WE HAD THE STORY RIGHT, THE
SUBSTANCE OF IT.
WHAT WE HAD WRONG WAS THE
ATTRIBUTION.
ATTRIBUTION. IT HAD NEVER COME BEFORE A GRAND
JURY AND THE SUBSTANCE WAS
IMPORTANT.
IMPORTANT. AND AT THE SAME TIME, WE HAD NOT
BEEN DILIGENT IN NAILING THIS
DOWN, THIS ONE ASPECT OF IT.
>> AND BOB WOODWARD WILL NEVER
FORGET WHAT THAT FELT LIKE.
>> THIS WAS ONE OF THE REAL
DREARY DAYS OF OUR REPORTING
LIFE.
LIFE. IN FACT, I DON’T THINK I’VE HAD
ONE THAT BAD, BECAUSE IT WAS
JUST FLAT WRONG.
>> BUT THE REST OF WOODWARD
BERNSTEIN’S REPORTING WAS RIGHT.
AND IN THE END, RICHARD NIXON
CHOSE TO RESIGN THE PRESIDENCY
RATHER THAN FACE CERTAIN REMOVAL
FROM OFFICE IN AN IMPEACHMENT
TRIAL IN THE UNITED STATES
SENATE.
SENATE. JOINING US NOW, DAVID CORN,
WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF FROM
MOTHER JONES AND MSNBC POLITICAL
ANALYST.
ANALYST. ALSO, ELIZABETH DREW, POLITICAL
JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK
ABOUT WATERGATE IS ENTITLED,
"WASHINGTON JOURNAL, THE EVENTS
OF 1973, ’74."
ELIZABETH DREW, YOU WERE THERE.
YOU READ EVERY ONE OF THESE
ACCOUNTS AS THEY WERE EMERGING
IN THE "WASHINGTON POST" AND
OTHER REPORTERS’ COVERAGE AT THE
TIME.
TIME. DID WE HAVE OTHER THAN THIS
WOODWARD BERNSTEIN EPISODE THAT
WE ALL LOOK BACK ON, WERE THERE
OTHER SUCH BUMPS IN THE
JOURNALISTIC ROAD IN COVERING
NIXON IN THOSE DAYS AND THE
UNFOLDING OF THAT SCANDAL?
>> NOTHING OF THAT ORDER,
LAWRENCE.
LAWRENCE. I THINK A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE IS
IN ORDER HERE.
YES, IT WAS A MISTAKE.
IT WAS A SUBJECT OF HEADLINES
AND HEAD-SCRATCHING AND
NOTHING -- A WHITE HOUSE BEING
INVESTIGATED, THEY JUST LOVE
WHEN SOME MISTAKE IS MADE,
BECAUSE THEN THEY DENOUNCE ALL
OF JOURNALISM.
OF JOURNALISM. WELL, LOOK AT THE END OF THE
STORY.
STORY. IN THE END, IT DIDN’T MATTER ALL
THAT MUCH.
THAT MUCH. IN A PERFECT WORLD, NO
JOURNALIST’S STORY WOULD EVER BE
WRONG AT ALL.
BUT IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN.
THE QUESTION IS, DO THEY CLEAN
UP THEIR ACT AFTERWARDS?
I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW APPALLED
THE PEOPLE "THE POST" WERE AND
PEOPLE IN THE DEMOCRATIC
COMMITTEE.
COMMITTEE. THEY WERE VERY UPSET ABOUT IT.
BUT IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS, IT
DIDN’T MATTER ALL THAT MUCH.
>> DAVID CORN, YOUR REACTION TO
THE BUZZFEED STORY TONIGHT, AND
ITS PARALLELS TO THAT WOODWARD
AND BERNSTEIN MIXUP, MISTAKE,
BACK IN THEIR BIG DAYS OF
COVERING RICHARD NIXON.
>> WELL, NOW WE KNOW THAT WHAT
THEY REPORTED, CARL AND BOB, YOU
KNOW, ENDED UP BEING TRUE.
THOUGH, AS THEY NOTE, THEY GOT
THE ATTRIBUTION WRONG, AND IT
GAVE THE NIXON WHITE HOUSE AND
THEIR DETRACTORS AMMUNITION TO
GO AFTER THEM.
WHAT WE DON’T KNOW YET IS
WHETHER BUZZFEED GOT IT RIGHT,
BUT SOMEHOW SCREWED -- YOU KNOW,
SCREWED UP THE ATTRIBUTION OR
THERE WAS SOME MISCOMMUNICATION
HERE.
HERE. BUT WHAT DO KNOW, TO GET TO
ELIZABETH’S POINT, THAT THE BIG
PICTURE REMAINS THAT DONALD
TRUMP HIMSELF LIED TO THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC.
AMERICAN PUBLIC. HE SAID HE HAD NOTHING TO DO
WITH RUSSIA WHILE HE WAS
CAMPAIGNING.
CAMPAIGNING. YET THERE HE WAS, PURSUING A
DEAL THAT WOULD HAVE ENRICHED
HIM TO THE TUNE OF HUNDREDS OF
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
AND THAT’S WHAT MICHAEL COHEN
WAS TRYING TO COVER UP.
HE SAYS, YOU KNOW -- HE SAID
PUBLICLY AT HIS SENTENCING IN
SORT OF SYNCHRONIZATION WITH
WHAT TRUMP WANTED.
WHETHER HE WAS DIRECTED TO DO
THIS SPECIFICALLY OR NOT.
SO THE BIG LIE IS OUT THERE.
THAT’S, YOU KNOW, THE BIG STORY
HERE.
HERE. AND IT’S A PITY THAT NOW WE ARE
BEING DISTRACTED BY WHAT MIGHT
HAVE BEEN A MISTAKE BY BUZZFEED
OR MIGHT BE AN UNCLEAR STATEMENT
BY MUELLER.
BY MUELLER. BUT I THINK AT THE END OF THE
DAY, WHETHER WE HAVE HOUSE
DEMOCRATS INVESTIGATING THIS OR
MUELLER GIVING US SOME MORE
INFORMATION, WE WILL GET THE
TRUTH OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED.
AND THAT WILL BE THE ISSUE, NOT
HOW IT WAS COVERED.
>> AND ELIZABETH DREW, IT MIGHT
BE BENTON BRADLEY WHO HAS THE
VERY BEST LINE ABOUT HOW PEOPLE
OUT THERE AND EDITORS IN THESE
SITUATIONS SHOULD REGARD
DEVELOPMENTS LIKE THIS AFTER
REVIEWING HOW THE MISTAKE WAS
MADE BY WOODWARD AND BERNSTEIN.
HE HAD A FEW WORDS WITH THEM
ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW THEY NEEDED
TO CLEAN UP THEIR PROCESSES,
MAKE SURE THIS WOULD NEVER
HAPPEN AGAIN.
HAPPEN AGAIN. AND IT DIDN’T EVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
BUT HE FINISHED THAT DISCUSSION
BY SAYING TO THEM, WHAT HAVE YOU
GOT FOR TOMORROW?
AND THAT’S WHAT REALLY MATTERS,
ISN’T IT?
ISN’T IT? >> THAT’S RIGHT.
TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY.
AND ANOTHER STORY.
AND OTHER STORIES.
AND I AGREE WITH -- WHO WAS JUST
TALKING -- THESE THINGS HAPPEN.
THEY DON’T HAPPEN -- THE AMAZING
THING IS, THEY DON’T HAPPEN VERY
OFTEN.
OFTEN. I WANT TO POINT SOMETHING ELSE
OUT.
OUT. IN WATERGATE, WE HAD NO CABLE.
WE HAD NO INTERNET.
WE HAD NONE OF THE THINGS THAT
GO ON NOW.
SO YOU HAVE THAT MANY MORE
PEOPLE REPORTING.
PEOPLE REPORTING. IN WATERGATE, THERE WEREN’T THAT
MANY ON THE STORY.
SO I THINK EXPONENTIALLY, THE
ODDS ON SOMEBODY GETTING
SOMETHING WRONG AT SOME POINT
ARE ALL THE GREATER.
BUT KEEP IN MIND, THE BIG
PICTURE.
PICTURE. DAVID WAS RIGHT.
THE BIG PICTURE IS SOMETHING
HAPPENED HERE.
HAPPENED HERE. WE’LL FIND OUT WHAT IT WAS.
BUT A LOT OF OTHER THINGS
HAPPENED TOO.
HAPPENED TOO. EVEN IF THIS STORY DIDN’T EXIST.
THERE IS STILL A VERY, VERY BIG
STORY.
STORY. >> AND WE ALL NEED PATIENCE AND
WE ALL NEED TO REMEMBER THE