WATERGATE: BREAK-IN {PART 1 OF 5} (TV)
Summary
The first of two programs on this tape. The first in this five-part series. Daniel Schorr narrates this examination of Richard M. Nixon and the Watergate scandal, which includes commentary from many of the former president's closest advisers as well as Nixon's own thoughts from an interview taped with David Frost in 1977. Schorr begins in front of the Watergate complex, discussing the scandal. Then, the program goes back to August 9, 1974, as Nixon leaves the White House in disgrace. H.R. Haldeman, chief of staff, discusses the pressure he felt from the White House to get Democratic intelligence for Nixon. Next, the program goes to May 1970 as America is in "turmoil," with Vietnam War demonstrators laying siege on the White House. Bud Krogh, White House duty officer, recalls the potentially explosive scene. Footage shows a Nixon press conference from the era as he tried to put an end to the young peoples' protests. Krogh and John Ehrlichman, Nixon's chief domestic adviser, note how "Searchlight" (Nixon's Secret Service code name) went to the Lincoln Memorial at 4:30 a.m. to "hobnob" with protesters. Nixon's gesture failed and he struck back at the protesters. Haldeman and Richard Helms, CIA director, detail how Nixon then called a special meeting of his intelligence directors, wanting their help in waging his own "domestic war." Nixon gave them all an illegal "secret executive order" to override legal rights to obtain intelligence that he felt necessary. Ehrlichman first went to New York to recruit Tony Ulasewicz, a former policeman, for special "dirty work" assignments. Ulasewicz's first job was to dig up damaging evidence on Nixon's enemies such as Senator Ted Kennedy. Then, the day after Tricia Nixon's wedding, the New York Times led with a breaking story on the Pentagon Papers, a massive leak of top-secret documents detailing American involvement in Vietnam. Chuck Colson, special assistant to the president, details Nixon's desire to get the documents back. John Dean, counsel to the president, talks about Colson's "crazy scheme" to firebomb the Brookings Institute, where the documents were being held. Then, Nixon began demanding lie detector tests for his whole staff (recorded by the hidden system which taped everything in the Oval Office), "to put fear into these people." E. Howard Hunt of the Special Investigations Unit details how Nixon set up his own elaborate police unit, trying to destroy Pentagon Paper contributor Daniel Ellsberg's image. Gordon Liddy, Special Investigations Unit member, talks about his desire to simply steal Ellsberg's records. Liddy details how he altered his appearance before he and Hunt flew out to California to break into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist to examine Ellsberg's file. Next, Hunt gathered former soldiers with whom he'd worked on the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, employing them as "plumbers" to stop White House leaks. At the psychiatrist's office, Liddy and Hunt attempted the break-in, coming back empty-handed and trashing the room. The Ellsberg affair became one of Nixon's darkest secrets as the 1972 presidential election arrived. Meanwhile, Nixon was visiting Beijing, cracking the "ice" of the Cold War. Jeb Magruder, deputy campaign director, talks about his goal in getting "rid" of John Anderson, a newspaper columnist who was harming Nixon's re-election campaign. Liddy bypassed Magruder to ask counsel John Dean how much "offense" he should put into the re-election operation. Liddy unveiled a "million dollar plan": Operation Gemstone, which would harass Democrats. Liddy talks about how the plan was to kidnap important Democratic advisers, or have prostitutes seduce them into giving away political secrets. Such schemes were quickly pushed aside, however, to focus on wiretapping, first zeroing in on Democratic presidential aide and Nixon critic Larry O'Brien. Nixon was obsessed with finding out how much money was being given to O'Brien by billionaire -- and Nixon contributor -- Howard Hughes. Magruder talks about the controversial decision to bug O'Brien's office phone in the Watergate, and the names of those who actually approved the plan. Next, the program considers whether the White House actually knew about the authorization to break into the Watergate -- unveiling a "truly amazing document" which proves Haldeman's knowledge and thus, Nixon's, knowledge. Liddy talks about his exact orders to tap and photograph O'Brien's room. While the president was 5,000 miles away in Moscow signing a nuclear arms agreement, the Watergate offices were being tapped. Liddy and Rolando Martinez of the break-in team talk about how the mission went longer than expected, entailing a second break-in. James McCord details how a previously taped door handle got unlatched during the mission, causing the break-in team to wonder if they had been discovered. The program ends with three plainclothes policemen discovering the burglars crouched under office desks and ordering their surrender. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: Discovery Channel
- DATE: August 7, 1994 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:46:10
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:45538
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Judith McHale)
- SERIES RUN: Discovery Channel - TV, 1994
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Nancy LeBrun … Senior Producer
- Paul Mitchell … Producer
- Liz McIntyre … Associate Producer
- Anne Hubbell … Associate Producer
- Norma Percy … Series Producer
- Mick Gold … Direction (Misc.), Series Director
- Tim Souster … Music by
- Daniel Schorr … Narrator
- John Anderson
- Chuck Colson
- John Dean
- John Ehrlichman
- Daniel Ellsberg
- David Frost
- H.R. Haldeman
- Richard Helms
- Howard Hughes
- E. Howard Hunt
- Kennedy, Edward M. (See also: Kennedy, Ted)
- Bud Krogh
- Liddy, Gordon (See also: Liddy, G. Gordon)
- Jeb Magruder
- Rolando Martinez
- James McCord
- Richard M. Nixon
- Tricia Nixon
- Larry O'Brien
- Tony Ulasewicz