>> Stephen: HEY, EVERYBODY, WELCOME BACK!
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN -- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
MY NEXT GUEST HAS BEEN A REPORTER FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS,
WINNING TWO PEABODY AWARDS, FOUR EMMYS, AND WRITING NINE BOOKS.
HIS NEWEST IS "THE FALL OF RICHARD NIXON."
PLEASE WELCOME, TOM BROKAW!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ( BAND PLAYING )
>> Stephen: NICE TO ESEE YOU AGAIN.
>> VERY NICE, NICE TO BE BACK IN THIS BUILDING.
HAVEN'T BEEN HERE FOR A LONG TIME.
>> Stephen: WE'RE SO GLAD TO HAVE YOU HERE.
>> GLAD TO BE HERE.
>> Stephen: SO GLAD TO HAVE YOU HERE FOR YOUR NEW BOOK "THE
FALL OF RICHARD NIXON."
YOU WERE A WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT STARTING WHEN?
>> 1973, THE SUMMER.
>> Stephen: SUMMER OF '73.
WHERE HAD YOU JUST COME FROM?
>> FROM CALIFORNIA.
I WAS A POLITICAL REPORTER OUT THERE AND I HAD BEEN COVERING
NATIONAL POLITICS FOR SOME TIME AS WELL AS WHAT I WAS DOING OUT
THERE.
I KNEW THE NIXON CROWD BECAUSE MOST OF THEM CAME FROM
CALIFORNIA.
>> Stephen: OBVIOUS.
RON, HAROLDMAN AND OTHERS.
THEY HAD A TRIUMPHANT FIRST TERM IN A LOT OF WAYS.
>> Stephen: LANDSLIDE VICTORY IN '72.
>> AND THEN, YOU KNOW, HUE BRINGS TOOK OVER AND THEY
THOUGHT THEY COULD DO WHATEVER THEY WANTED TO AND HOWEVER THEY
WANTED TO.
THEY WERE BREAKING AND ENTERING.
BY THE TIME I GOT THERE, BOB HAROLDMAN WAS ON HIS WAY TO
JAIL, RON WAS OKAY AT THAT POINT BUT THE ADVISOR WAS ON HIS WAY
TO JAIL, JOHN DEAN, THE PRESIDENT'S CHIEF COUNSEL, HE
WAS ON HIS WAY TO JAIL, THE PRESIDENT'S OWN PARTNER IN LAW
HERE IN NEW YORK WAS ON HIS WAY TO JAIL.
A LOT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT IT IS NOW.
( LAUGHTER ) >> Stephen: A LOT OF PEOPLE
HAVE GONE TO JAIL.
>> THEY HAVE GONE TO JAIL AT THAT POINT, AND THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THEN AND NOW IS THAT THE PRESIDENT HAD A TAPE RECORDING
SYSTEM, AND THE FACT IS, ONCE THAT WAS FOUND OUT, THERE WAS
ALL KINDS OF EVIDENCE ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES,
AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM AND NOW, AS WELL, IT WASN'T 24-7
ON TELEVISION.
YOU KNOW, WE WOULD, AS A WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, WE WOULD
GET BRIEFED AT 10:00 IN THE MORNING.
I WOULDN'T GO ON THE AIR TILL 6:30 AT NIGHT FOR NIGHTLY NEWS.
I WOULD BE WORKING THE PHONES ALL DAY TO TRY TO FIND OUT WHAT,
IN FACT, HAPPENED AND, WHEN IT WOULD GO ON, IT WOULD BE VERY
MUCH ORGANIZED AND I COULD COUNTS ON WHAT I WAS SAYING --
>> Stephen: GO BACK.
WHAT WAS NEWS LIKE WHEN IT WAS ORGANIZED AND YOU COULD COUNT ON
WHAT YOU WERE SAYING.
TAKE ME BACK TO THIS MYTHICAL LAND.
>> IT WAS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NOW AND SOCIAL MEDIA.
THE FACT IS THAT THIS TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE -- AND I DO
BELIEVE THAT THE PEOPLE OUGHT TO HAVE ACCESS TO STATING WHAT THEY
BELIEVE AND WHAT THEY WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN, BUT WE'VE LOST
CONTROL OF IT BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT'S COMING FROM,
WHERE IT'S GOING, WHAT THE MOTIVATION IS, AND, SO, WHEN YOU
SEE SOMETHING, SO MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE IT, AND SO MUCH OF IT
CAN'T BE AUTHENTICATED.
THAT'S A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEN AND NOW.
DOESN'T MEAN THAT THOSE OF US WHO ARE WHITE HOUSE
CORRESPONDENTS OR IN AMERICAN JOURNALISM HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS
BUT WE WORKED HARD AT DETERMINING WHAT HAPPENED
BECAUSE WE WERE LIABLE FOR IT AT THE END OF THE DAY AND THE
COUNTRY PAID ATTENTION TO IT ON THAT BASIS.
NOW IT'S JUMP BALL 24-7.
>> Stephen: TAKE ME BACK TO WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN 1973 TO BE
AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
HOW MUCH WAS THERE A SENSE THAT NIXON WASN'T GOING TO LAST?
BECAUSE HE'S GOT ONE MORE YEART AT THAT POINT.
>> HE DOES.
>> Stephen: HOW HIGH WAS THE FEVER AT THAT POINT?
YOU SAY THESE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO JAIL BUT THAT'S NOT NIXON.
HOW CLOSE HAD IT GOT TON THE PRESIDENT AT THAT POINT?
>> WE KNEW HE WAS VERY CLOSE TO IT.
HAD THE FAMOUS 18-MINUTE TAPE, FOR EXAMPLE.
WHY WAS IT ERASED?
IT WAS ERASED CLUMSY BECAUSE IT HAD STUFF ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING
TO HAPPEN FOR WHAT HE WAS SAYING ON THE TAPE THAT DAY.
WE DIDN'T GO ON THE AIR SAYING HE WAS GUILTY.
WE HAD LUNCH ONCE A MONTH AND WOULD TALK, WHY ARE THEY GOING
THIS DIRECTION?
AND HE WOULD RAISE HIS EYEBROWS AND SAY, WELL, REMEMBER, HE'S
GUILTY, BUT WE DIDN'T GO ON THE AIR OR THE PAPER AND SAY THAT.
WE WORKED DILIGENTLY TO PROVE WHAT WE WERE REPORTING ON A
DAILY BASIS.
NOW, AS SOON AS THE PRESIDENT SAYS SOMETHING, AS YOU KNOW FROM
WATCHING, OR THE PRESIDENT OR ANY OF THE HIS SPOKESMEN SAY
SOMETHING, EVERYBODY'S ON THE AIR 24-7, HE'S GUILTY, HE'S
GUILTY, HE'S GUILTY, OR HE'S NOT GUILTY.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ♪
YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOOK AT THE HEARING TODAY.
>> Stephen: I DID NOT WATCH THE HEARINGS TODAY.
>> ABSOLUTELY, I DO THINK YOU HAVE TO KEEP TRACK OF IT, BUT I
CAN ALSO SEE HOW IT MAKES THE AMERICAN VOTERS EYES GLAZE OVER
BECAUSE IT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ANYTHING BUT A SHOWN BOTH SIDES,
AND I THINK THAT'S THE REALLY DANGEROUS PROPOSITION THAT WE'RE
DEALING WITH NOW.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK.
PLEASE STICK AROUND AND YOU STICK AROUND BECAUSE WE'LL BE
BACK WITH MORE OF MR. TOM BROKAW!