BACK AT HIS TIME HERE THROUGH
HIS OWN WORDS.
>> HERE ARE THE TOP NEWS
STORIES.
MY FIRST ALLEGIANCE IS TO THAT
PERSON TUNED IN.
I ANCHORED THE SHOW AT A TIME
THAT A LOT WAS HAPPENING.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES IS DEAD AND IT’S A MUCH
SADDENED NATION AND WORLD THAT
GREETS THIS DAY.
ALL THROUGH THE LONG NIGHT AND
THE GREATEST AND MOST SOLEMN
WAKE IN HISTORY, MORE THAN
200,000 PEOPLE FILED THROUGH THE
GREAT ROTUNDA TO GAZE UPON HIS
COFFIN.
IT WAS KIND OF A SHOCK WAVE THAT
ALSO IS NUMBING.
I WAS KIND OF NUMB MYSELF ABOUT
IT.
I DIDN’T KNOW JUST WHAT WAS THE
BEST WAY TO TURN, EXCEPT TO STAY
ON THE AIR, TO DO WHAT YOU COULD
TO INFORM PEOPLE OF WHAT WAS
GOING ON, AND THAT’S WHAT WE
WOUND UP DOING.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, CIVIL
RIGHTS LEADER, NOBEL PRIZE
WINNER AND APOSTLE OF
NONVIOLENCE DIED VIOLENTLY LAST
NIGHT IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.
WHEN I INTERVIEWED DR. MARTIN
LUTHER KING JR., I REALIZED IN A
VERY SHORT TIME THAT HE WAS NOT
WORKING FOR THE BLACK RACE, HE
WAS WORKING FOR THE HUMAN RACE.
THERE’S SOMETHING IN HUMAN
NATURE AMONG SOME HUMANS THAT
CANNOT STAND THAT KIND OF
GOODNESS, AND THEY FEEL IT HAS TO BE RUBBED OUT.
TO BE RUBBED OUT.
AND I FELT THAT WAY ABOUT KING.
THERE WAS KIND OF A SENSE OF
ALARM OF WHAT’S GOING ON.
THEY’RE JUST KILLING OFF
IMPORTANT PEOPLE.
IT KIND OF WOKE PEOPLE UP IN A
WAY THAT THEY WOULDN’T OTHERWISE
HAVE BEEN AWAKENED.
I WAS BROADCASTING, I’M GLAD I
WAS PART OF "TODAY" IN THE ’60s,
WHICH WERE A TURBULENT TIME
WORLDWIDE.
PEOPLE WERE UPSET ABOUT THINGS
AND THEY WERE DOING THINGS ABOUT
THEM.
THAT’S A VERY IMPORTANT TIME TO
BE BROADCASTING.
I BEGAN ANCHORING IN 1962.
AT THE TIME BARBARA WAS IN
EFFECT MY PRODUCER.
SHE ACTUALLY WROTE AND PRODUCED
THE SEGMENT THAT WELCOMED ME
ONTO THE PROGRAM.
I REMEMBER SAYING WHY NOT
BARBARA WALTERS?
THEY SAID SHE’S A WRITER.
I SAID, YEAH, BUT SHE’S BRIGHT
AND GOOD LOOKING.
I THINK SHE’D DO WELL ON THE
AIR.
THE REST IS HISTORY.
GOOD MORNING, IT’S "TODAY" IN
ROMANIA.
WE’RE RIGHT AT THE WALL IN
BERLIN.
IT SHOWED "TODAY" WAS EXPANDING
ITSELF TO THE WORLD AND WE HAD A
CHANCE TO SEE THE WORLD AND SHOW
PEOPLE WHO TUNED IN WHAT ALL WAS
GOING ON.
WELL, THE BEGINSA A GINZA IS OUR
HERE IN TOKYO.
>> I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU SUM UP
NINE YEARS OF PLEASURE AND OF
FRIENDSHIP.
THIS IS THE ONLY WAY I KNOW.
>> I’M HUGH DOWNS.
IT’S QUITE POSSIBLE TO CELEBRATE
THE 100th ANNIVERSARY, YES,
BECAUSE THAT FORMAT IS
PROBABLY -- PROBABLY IMMORTAL IN
SOME WAY.
IF YOU’RE DOING WHAT A MEDIUM
CAN DO IN THE WAY OF SERVING
PEOPLE.
MAYBE MY GREAT GRANDSON CAN BE A
PART OF THAT.
I WOULD LIKE IT IF PEOPLE
REMEMBERED ME AS BEING FAIR,
ENJOYING WHAT I DID, AND BEING
HONEST WITH THE AUDIENCE.
I WAS STRIVING CONSTANTLY TO
LIVE UP TO THAT.
IF I’M REMEMBERED THAT WAY, I’LL
BE VERY HAPPY.
>> SO NICE TO HEAR IT FROM HIM
AND HEAR HIS OWN WORDS AND HIM
REFLECTING ON HIS TIME ON
"TODAY."
HE HAD SUCH A WARMTH ABOUT HIM
AND A GOODNESS, IT’S NO WONDER
PEOPLE TUNED IN TO HIM FOR SIX
DECADES ON TELEVISION, ALMOST A
WHOLE DECADE HERE ON "TODAY."
>> HE WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BE
REMEMBERED THE WAY THAT HE
WANTED.
HERE’S THE THING AND HE ALLUDED
TO IT THERE IN THAT STORY, BUT
HIS TENURE AT THE SHOW, THE
’60s, THE EARLY ’70s, SUCH A
CHAOTIC TIME IN OUR COUNTRY AND
HERE WAS THIS STEADY, THIS