WEBVTT

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..:: Presented By ZarFilm Website ::..
‏.::  www.bolboljan.net ::.

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NIXON ON TAPE:
They'd better not
push me on him,

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or l'll just kick
them in the teeth on it.

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NIXON AIDE:
Well, l think, if they...

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NIXON: . . .InternaI Revenue
people that are kicking

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Billy Graham around
is Rosenberg.

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He is to be out.

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l don't give a goddamn
what the story is.

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He went on television.

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l have not.
l've already
ordered ConnaIIy,

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we're going
after the Chandlers,

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every one individually,
collectively,

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their income taxes
are starting this week.

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Every one of those
sons of bitches.

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NIXON: Well, this is
something that we can
really hang Teddy or...

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MAN: Yeah.

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N lXON: ...or the
Kennedy clan with.

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l'm gonna want to put that
in Colson's hands.

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And we're gonna
want to run with it.

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NEWS REPORTER 1:
A controversial
day in politics.

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A man arrested trying
to bug the offices

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of the Democratic
National Committee
in Washington

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turns out to be an employee

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of President Richard Nixon's
re-election
campaign committee.

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He is one of five
persons surprised
and arrested yesterday

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inside the headquarters
of the Democratic
National Committee

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in Washington.

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And guess what else he is.

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A consultant of
President Richard Nixon's

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re-election
campaign committee.

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NEWS REPORTER 2:
The trial started today
at the federal courthouse

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for the five burglars
caught breaking into

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the Democratic National
Party headquarters.

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CAMERAMAN : Stand by
for camera.

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MUDD: John Dean,
the ex-White House Counsel,
testified today

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that President Nixon
knew about
the Watergate cover-up.

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DEAN: At one point in
the conversation,

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l recall the President
telling me

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to keep a good list
of the press people
giving us trouble

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because we will make
life difficult for them
after the election.

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NEWS REPORTER 3:
Dean read through
a 245-page statement

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characterizing a president
who was easily outraged

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over war protesters
and political adversaries,

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and outlining
a range of offenses,

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including wiretapping
of newsmen,

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a Charles Colson
plan to firebomb

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and burglarize
the Brookings lnstitution,

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and spying on
Senator Kennedy
and other Democrats.

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LAWYER: The misuse
of power is the very
essence of tyranny.

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And consider, if you will,

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the frightening
implications of that
for a free society.

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NEWS REPORTER 4: The President
today accepted the resignation
of three of his closest aides.

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Out is H. R. Haldeman,
Chief of Staff.

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Also quitting under fire
is John Ehrlichman.

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Ehrlichman was
a key political advisor.

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NEWS REPORTER 5: Good morning.
The Supreme Court

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has just ruled on
the tapes controversy,

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and here is Carl Stern,
who has that ruling.

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lt is a unanimous
decision, Doug, eight to zero.

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Justice Rehnquist
took no part in the decision

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ordering the President
of the United States
to turn over the tapes.

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(CROWD CHEERING)

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lt's an eight-to-zero
unanimous opinion.

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A White House aide
toId NBC News today

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that impeachment
of the President

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by the full
House of Representatives
now is a virtual certainty.

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These are,
with no serious doubt,

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the last hours
of the 37th presidency
of the United States.

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This is indeed
an historic day,

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the only time
a president has ever
resigned from office

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in our nearly 200
years of history.

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You see the White House
there, and in the White House,

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in just a few moments now,

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President Nixon
will be appearing
before the people,

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perhaps for the last
time as President
of the United States.

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WHlTE HOUSE DlRECTOR:
15 seconds, Mr. President.

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Okay, that's five,
four, three. . .

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Good evening.
This is the 37th time

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l have spoken to you
from this office

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where so many decisions
have been made

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that have shaped
the history of our nation.

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l remember exactly
where l was.

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My father called.
The phone rang, my father
called and he said,

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"Turn on the TV right now.
Richard Nixon's going down."

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l was at home with friends,
and we were watching
television at home.

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We stayed up and,
like everyone else,
l'd been glued to

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the Select and Judiciary
Committee hearings
night after night.

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And then finally,
it had come to this.

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Therefore, l shall resign
the presidency effective
at noon tomorrow.

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But instead of
the satisfaction
l imagined l'd feel,

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l just got angrier
and angrier,

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because there was
no admission of guilt.

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There was no apology.

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Little did l know

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that l would one day
be part of the team

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that would try and
elicit that apology.

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N lXON : To leave office
before my term is completed

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is abhorrent to every
instinct in my body.

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l have never been a quitter.

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And that that team
would be led

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by the most unlikely
of white knights,

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a man with no
political convictions
whatsoever,

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a man who, as far as l know,
had never even voted
once in his life.

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But he was a man who had
one big advantage
over the rest of us.

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He understood television.

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(FROST OVER AUSTRALlA
THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

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ANNOUNCER: And now,
the host of
Frost Over Australia,

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Mr. David Frost!

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(CH UCKLES)

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Thank you, thank you.

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Hello. Good evening.

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And with the eyes of the world
focused on the White House,

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here in Australia,
burglars have broken into

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a meat factory in Brisbane

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and stolen a ton
of pork sausages.

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(AU DlENCE LAUGH lNG)

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The Queensland police are
looking for men
in a long, thin getaway car.

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Now, my first guest tonight. . .

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Well, we in the Nixon camp

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really didn't know that much
about David Frost,

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other than he was
a British talk show host

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with something of
a playboy reputation.

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He'd had a talk show
here in the US that
had won some awards

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but hadn't syndicated well
and had been dropped
by the network.

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He ended up taking
it down to Australia,

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which is, l believe,
where he was when
the President resigned.

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FROST: Next week's guest
will be Evonne Goolagong.

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We'll see you then.
God bless.

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Great show, David.
Thanks, Noah.

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NOAH : Come and look at this.

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Nixon leaving
the White House.

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NEWS REPORTER: A dark day
for Richard Nixon,
who has drawn crowds

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to the vast Ellipse south
of the White House before.

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What, this is live?
Yeah.

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NEWS REPORTER:
But those were triumphs.
This is not.

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What time is it
in Washington?

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9:00 a. m.

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Why didn't he wait?

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lt's 6:00 in the morning
on the West Coast.

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Half his audience
is still asleep.

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All right,
you blokes, let's get
the set broken down.

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NEWS REPORTER: ...are
witnesses to the saddest day
in the life of Richard Nixon,

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his last moments
as President
of the United States,

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a moment unlike
any other in the history
of this country.

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Richard Nixon, who goes now

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from the power
of the presidency

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to a form of exile
in California.

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Find out the numbers
for this, will you?
Worldwide.

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BRENNAN: l remember his face.

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Staring out the window.

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Down below him,
a liberal America
cheered, gloated.

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Hippies, draft dodgers,
dilettantes,

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the same people
who'd spit on me when
l got back from Vietnam.

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They'd gotten rid
of Richard Nixon,
their bogeyman.

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So what's so important
that it couldn't wait,
that it had to be today?

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l've had an idea, John,
rather a bold idea
for an interview.

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Fish and chips, please.

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And in a moment. . .

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Well, it's too late now.
lt's done.

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l've called his people. . .

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You?

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Beans, peas and lamb, please.

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And made an offer.

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Now, if the subject
were to say yes,

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well, he's rather
a big fish that swims
in not-untricky waters.

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So it goes without saying
that l'd want a dear friend

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and the finest producer
l know by my side.

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So who is it?

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Richard Nixon.

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(LAUGHS) Richard Nixon?

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Well, come on,
don't look like that.

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Well, how would you
expect me to look?

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l spent yesterday
evening watching you
interview the Bee Gees.

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Weren't they terrific?

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Come on, John,
we've done political
interviews before.

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So, okay, so what
kind of interview?

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A full, extensive
look-back over his life,
his presidency.

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And?

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And what?
Come on, David.

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Surely the only thing
that would interest anyone

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about Richard Nixon
would be a confession.

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A full,
no-holds-barred
confession.

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Well, we'll get that, too.

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From Richard Nixon?

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Come on, John.

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Just think of the
numbers it would get.

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Do you know how
many people watched

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his farewell speech
in the White House?

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Four hundred million.

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But in the end,
David heard nothing.

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And soon after
arriving in California,

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Nixon was rushed
to hospital with an acute
attack of phlebitis.

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l think it was
around this time
that Gerald Ford,

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who was the new President,

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and who was desperate
to move the agenda
on from Watergate,

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gave Nixon a full,
free and absolute pardon.

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Now therefore, I,
Gerald R. Ford,

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President of
the United States,

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have granted,
and by these presents
do grant,

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a full,
free and absolute pardon

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unto Richard Nixon
for all offenses
against the United States.

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lt meant that the man
who had committed
the greatest felony

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in American political history
would never stand trial.

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lt was like he slipped
out the back door.

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A public opinion
poll indicates

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a two-to-one disapproval
of the pardoning
of Richard Nixon.

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CHANCELLOR: One teIegram
from Virginia said,
"Roosevelt had his New Deal,

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"Truman had his Fair Deal,
now Ford has
his crooked deal."

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There was no deal, period.

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l don't think the truth
will ever come out.

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The American people
need to know the truth,

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and l don't think
it will ever now
be fully known.

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GAN NON : So how do we
want to address
the college protests?

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Well, do we want
to lift some quotes

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from the "stand up
and be counted" speech
in 1970?

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Sir?
GAN NON : You know, maybe
we're just better off

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using the whole
Lincoln Memorial memo.

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SAWYER: Just include
the whole thing.

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Mr. President,
Swifty Lazar is here.

00:12:18.520 --> 00:12:20.780
Okay. No, no, stick around.

00:12:20.860 --> 00:12:23.070
You're gonna get
a kick out of this.

00:12:23.150 --> 00:12:26.360
This is my literary agent
from Hollywood.

00:12:26.450 --> 00:12:28.660
Hygiene obsessive.

00:12:31.540 --> 00:12:34.080
Mr. President,
good to see you.

00:12:34.170 --> 00:12:35.790
Nice to see you.

00:12:35.880 --> 00:12:38.460
These are folks
helping me with my book.

00:12:38.540 --> 00:12:41.420
Diane Sawyer,
Frank Gannon,
lrving Lazar.

00:12:41.510 --> 00:12:43.090
Nice to meet you.
Miss Sawyer.

00:12:43.170 --> 00:12:44.880
Pleasure.
Mr. Gannon.

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Okay, that's it.
l'll see you after lunch.

00:12:50.890 --> 00:12:52.890
SWlFTY: So how
you feeling, sir?

00:12:53.310 --> 00:12:57.850
l'm better, thank you.
Though not yet
well enough to golf,

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thank God.
l despise that game.

00:13:02.570 --> 00:13:05.110
lmagine, six weeks
out of office

00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.700
as President
of the United States,

00:13:07.780 --> 00:13:10.620
and they'd have me putting
in my hospital room.

00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:12.700
Never retire, Mr. Lazar.

00:13:13.160 --> 00:13:18.080
To me, the unhappiest
people of the world
are retired.

00:13:18.170 --> 00:13:19.960
No purpose.

00:13:20.040 --> 00:13:22.800
What makes life mean
something is purpose.

00:13:22.880 --> 00:13:25.760
A goal. A battle. A struggle.

00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.050
Well, even if
you don't win it.

00:13:28.550 --> 00:13:31.050
When my doctor
declared me unfit

00:13:31.140 --> 00:13:32.970
to give testimony
in the Watergate trial,

00:13:33.060 --> 00:13:35.270
everybody thought
l'd be relieved.

00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:36.940
Well, they were wrong.

00:13:37.020 --> 00:13:38.520
That was the lowest l got.

00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:43.020
Well, if it's a challenge
you want, here's one
you might enjoy.

00:13:43.110 --> 00:13:47.030
How to spend $2 million,
2.3 to be precise.

00:13:47.110 --> 00:13:48.910
lt's what l got
for your memoirs.

00:13:48.990 --> 00:13:50.450
Well, thank you.

00:13:50.530 --> 00:13:51.780
Eh. . .

00:13:51.870 --> 00:13:53.620
lt might be a little short
of what l wanted,

00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:57.250
but let me assure you,
it's a whole lot more
than they wanted.

00:13:57.330 --> 00:13:59.330
That book is important to me.

00:13:59.420 --> 00:14:03.130
lt's probably the only
chance l'm gonna get
to put the record straight

00:14:03.210 --> 00:14:06.590
and remind people
the Nixon years
weren't all bad.

00:14:08.050 --> 00:14:11.930
You know, if you're trying
to put the record straight,

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l'd at least talk to him.

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N lXON : Who?

00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:18.430
David Frost.
English talk show guy.

00:14:19.190 --> 00:14:22.060
Why would l want to
talk to David Frost?

00:14:22.150 --> 00:14:24.940
Well, a while back,
he wrote asking
for an interview.

00:14:25.030 --> 00:14:26.360
No.

00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:27.740
Well, we didn't
get back to him.

00:14:27.820 --> 00:14:30.150
Frankly, we didn't
find him appropriate.

00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:32.990
Well, l thought
that we were
doing one with CBS.

00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:35.030
We are. l just figured
doing it with Frost

00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.200
would be a whole lot
easier than doing it
with Mike Wallace.

00:14:37.290 --> 00:14:41.620
lt would, but it would
have a lot less,
you know, credibility.

00:14:41.710 --> 00:14:45.250
True, true. Could
probably get more money.

00:14:48.050 --> 00:14:49.800
Really?
Look.

00:14:49.880 --> 00:14:53.260
We'll always have
350 on the table
from CBS.

00:14:53.350 --> 00:14:57.100
But if l could get
Frost to pay more
and secure better terms,

00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.680
it might be a shame to pass.

00:15:00.270 --> 00:15:03.480
lt'd be interesting to know
where he is right now.

00:15:03.900 --> 00:15:06.480
We tied him to
railway tracks,
and he escaped.

00:15:07.030 --> 00:15:09.820
We buried him alive,
and he walked free.

00:15:09.900 --> 00:15:14.280
Today we're lowering
escape artist Derek Harrison
into the water

00:15:14.370 --> 00:15:18.700
to see if he can
miraculously
cheat death once more.

00:15:18.790 --> 00:15:21.210
Good evening,
and welcome to
Great Escapes.

00:15:21.290 --> 00:15:23.210
My name is David Frost.

00:15:25.250 --> 00:15:26.840
DlRECTOR:
Okay, that is a cut.

00:15:26.920 --> 00:15:28.000
Thank you.

00:15:28.090 --> 00:15:31.380
ln any deal, you need to
know your opponent's
breaking point.

00:15:32.800 --> 00:15:34.470
To assess that,
you might call them

00:15:34.550 --> 00:15:36.800
late at night
or at the weekend.

00:15:37.430 --> 00:15:40.270
lf they take the call,
you know they're desperate.

00:15:40.350 --> 00:15:43.770
And from that moment on,
you know you have
the upper hand.

00:15:44.310 --> 00:15:46.190
(PHON E RlNGlNG)

00:15:54.870 --> 00:15:55.990
Hello?

00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:57.780
Mr. Frost? lrving Lazar.

00:15:59.160 --> 00:16:00.620
Who?

00:16:00.700 --> 00:16:03.870
Swifty Lazar.
l represent
President Nixon.

00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:05.250
What time is it?

00:16:05.330 --> 00:16:06.290
Bad time?

00:16:06.380 --> 00:16:09.170
(STUTTERlNG) No! Not at all.

00:16:12.220 --> 00:16:16.050
l'm calling with regard
to your request
for an interview

00:16:16.140 --> 00:16:19.140
and to say,
having considered it,

00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:23.180
my client is not
necessarily opposed
to the idea.

00:16:23.270 --> 00:16:26.980
Really?
Well, that's
terrific news!

00:16:27.060 --> 00:16:28.820
For God's sake.

00:16:28.900 --> 00:16:30.940
SWIFTY: I got $500,000.

00:16:31.030 --> 00:16:32.400
ls that good?

00:16:32.490 --> 00:16:37.120
Mr. President,
it's a half a million dollars
for a news interview.

00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:38.450
lt's unprecedented.

00:16:38.530 --> 00:16:40.700
Yeah? Well, what's the catch?

00:16:40.790 --> 00:16:43.960
With Frost? None.
lt'll be a big wet kiss.

00:16:44.540 --> 00:16:47.170
This guy'll be so grateful
to be getting it at all,

00:16:47.250 --> 00:16:48.920
he'll pitch
puffballs all night

00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:51.840
and pay a half
a million dollars
for the privilege.

00:16:55.220 --> 00:16:57.590
Well, you think
you could get 550?

00:16:58.890 --> 00:17:00.220
l got 6.

00:17:01.930 --> 00:17:03.770
BlRT: David, how could
you have done that?
What?

00:17:03.850 --> 00:17:05.770
$600,000. That's a fortune.

00:17:05.850 --> 00:17:06.850
200 on signature?

00:17:06.940 --> 00:17:08.350
Don't worry about the money.

00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:10.820
My God.
Most Americans think
he belongs in jail.

00:17:10.900 --> 00:17:12.570
You're making him
a rich man.

00:17:12.650 --> 00:17:14.570
Plus, by outbidding them,
you've already made enemies

00:17:14.650 --> 00:17:16.150
of the networks.
They're just jealous.

00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.740
They're already sounding off
about checkbook journalism.

00:17:18.820 --> 00:17:20.240
And if the networks
are against you,

00:17:20.330 --> 00:17:21.700
syndication's always
going to be a struggle.

00:17:21.790 --> 00:17:23.370
No syndication,
no advance sales.

00:17:23.450 --> 00:17:24.950
No advance sales,
no commercials.

00:17:25.040 --> 00:17:26.460
No commercials, no revenue.

00:17:26.540 --> 00:17:30.210
And here's the bigger
question, why do it?
You don't need it.

00:17:30.290 --> 00:17:31.380
Your career's
in great shape.

00:17:31.460 --> 00:17:33.630
This will just spread you
across three continents,

00:17:33.710 --> 00:17:35.300
jeopardize the other shows.

00:17:35.380 --> 00:17:36.760
lsn't it true that
Channel Nine in Australia

00:17:36.840 --> 00:17:38.550
want you to do
another season
of your talk show for them?

00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:39.680
Yes.
And London, too?

00:17:39.760 --> 00:17:41.890
Yes, but that would be
London and Australia.

00:17:41.970 --> 00:17:43.720
This would be. . .
What?

00:17:44.310 --> 00:17:45.810
You wouldn't
understand, John.

00:17:45.890 --> 00:17:48.730
You were never
part of the show
in New York,

00:17:49.350 --> 00:17:51.150
but it's indescribable.

00:17:51.230 --> 00:17:56.320
Success in America
is unlike success
anywhere else.

00:17:57.740 --> 00:17:59.780
And the emptiness
when it's gone.

00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:06.620
And the sickening
thought that it may
never come back.

00:18:07.540 --> 00:18:09.920
You know, there's
a restaurant in New York
called Sardi's.

00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:11.750
Ordinary mortals
can't get a table.

00:18:11.840 --> 00:18:13.500
John, the place
was my canteen !

00:18:13.590 --> 00:18:14.670
You know, l'd be happier

00:18:14.760 --> 00:18:15.960
if l heard
some kind of vision

00:18:16.050 --> 00:18:17.220
that you had
for this interview.

00:18:17.300 --> 00:18:18.420
MAN : Excuse me, Mr. Frost.

00:18:18.510 --> 00:18:19.630
l'd heard you were
going to be here.

00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:21.640
Would you mind?
Of course.

00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:23.220
But l don't.
l just hear
a man doing it

00:18:23.310 --> 00:18:24.560
because it would
create headlines

00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:26.720
or give him a place
at the top table.

00:18:26.810 --> 00:18:28.140
And that is what
makes me nervous.

00:18:28.230 --> 00:18:30.940
And you do nervous
so beautifully, John.

00:18:31.020 --> 00:18:34.360
"Hello, good evening
and welcome."

00:18:34.820 --> 00:18:36.360
(FROST LAUGHS)

00:18:37.530 --> 00:18:39.450
l don't actually say that.

00:18:39.530 --> 00:18:41.110
Hello, Mr. Frost.

00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:48.910
Champagne?

00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:50.710
CAROLlN E: No, thank you.

00:18:51.710 --> 00:18:53.750
FLlGHT ATTEN DANT:
Another glass, sir?

00:19:11.270 --> 00:19:13.440
You don't like champagne?

00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:16.480
Not on airplanes.

00:19:16.570 --> 00:19:18.860
Yes, it dehydrates
one terribly.

00:19:19.700 --> 00:19:22.320
The trick is to have
a glass of water
on the go, too.

00:19:22.410 --> 00:19:24.950
Like the Viennese
serve coffee.

00:19:25.030 --> 00:19:27.290
Well, l've never
been to Vienna.

00:19:27.370 --> 00:19:29.830
Oh. Well, you'd like it.

00:19:29.910 --> 00:19:32.920
lt's like Paris
without the French.

00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:37.500
What's your name?

00:19:37.590 --> 00:19:38.750
Caroline.

00:19:38.840 --> 00:19:39.840
David.

00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.630
Yes, l know. David Frost.

00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:46.430
"Hello and good evening
and welcome."

00:19:51.190 --> 00:19:54.850
You know, l heard
an interview with you
recently on the radio.

00:19:54.940 --> 00:19:57.270
You were giving it
from the back
of your Rolls-Royce.

00:19:57.360 --> 00:19:58.480
Bentley.

00:19:58.570 --> 00:19:59.610
On the phone.

00:19:59.690 --> 00:20:00.940
They said that
you were a person

00:20:01.030 --> 00:20:04.030
who defined
the age we live in.

00:20:04.110 --> 00:20:05.740
Really?
Mmm.

00:20:06.280 --> 00:20:07.870
You and Vidal Sassoon.

00:20:09.580 --> 00:20:12.540
But what made you
exceptional, they said,

00:20:12.620 --> 00:20:16.540
was that you were a person
who had achieved great fame

00:20:16.630 --> 00:20:19.960
without possessing
any discernible quality.

00:20:20.050 --> 00:20:21.260
How kind.
Mmm-hmm.

00:20:21.340 --> 00:20:24.630
And that you fly
around a great deal.

00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.010
Well, that's true.

00:20:27.930 --> 00:20:28.890
Why?

00:20:28.970 --> 00:20:30.470
l like to keep busy.

00:20:31.140 --> 00:20:32.520
Why?

00:20:32.600 --> 00:20:35.140
l find it
more interesting
than keeping still.

00:20:36.230 --> 00:20:38.150
You know,
you have very sad eyes.

00:20:38.860 --> 00:20:40.650
Do l?
Mmm.

00:20:40.730 --> 00:20:42.740
Has anyone told
you that before?

00:20:43.280 --> 00:20:44.530
No.

00:20:44.610 --> 00:20:46.280
Are you a sad person?

00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:52.700
Let's talk about
you a little bit.

00:20:52.790 --> 00:20:55.250
Of course, you feel more
comfortable asking questions.

00:20:55.330 --> 00:20:57.290
How right you are!

00:20:57.630 --> 00:20:59.340
This is your
captain speaking.

00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:00.420
You may have
noticed we've begun

00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:02.630
our final descent
into Los Angeles.

00:21:03.510 --> 00:21:06.590
lf you could please
return to your seats
and fasten your seat belts,

00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:08.720
we'll be landing
very shortly. Thank you.

00:21:08.800 --> 00:21:11.100
CAROLlN E: So how about you?
Where are you going?

00:21:11.180 --> 00:21:13.520
To meet Richard Nixon.

00:21:13.600 --> 00:21:14.850
Really?

00:21:16.520 --> 00:21:19.310
You know, they say he has
the most enormous head,

00:21:19.770 --> 00:21:21.320
but the sexiest voice.

00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:22.780
Where is he now?

00:21:23.030 --> 00:21:26.570
ln some dark underground cave
licking his wounds?

00:21:27.450 --> 00:21:30.200
Actually, no.
ln his rather smart
beachside villa

00:21:30.280 --> 00:21:31.330
in California.

00:21:31.410 --> 00:21:34.120
Really? Richard Nixon
in a beachside villa?

00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:35.790
How incongruous.

00:21:35.870 --> 00:21:37.870
You can come if you'd like.

00:21:38.380 --> 00:21:40.040
To meet Nixon?

00:21:40.750 --> 00:21:42.460
Why not?

00:21:43.840 --> 00:21:45.130
Are you sure?

00:21:48.180 --> 00:21:49.840
You know, l would love that.

00:21:49.930 --> 00:21:52.100
PILOT: Cabin crew,
please prepare for arrival.

00:21:52.180 --> 00:21:55.020
Well, l'll get
my office to call you
first thing in the morning

00:21:55.100 --> 00:21:57.640
and send a car with a phone.

00:21:57.730 --> 00:21:58.730
Oh.

00:22:01.190 --> 00:22:04.230
He did, too. Money no object.

00:22:04.320 --> 00:22:08.320
Everything glittered
and was golden.

00:22:08.410 --> 00:22:09.820
Well, on the outside.

00:22:09.910 --> 00:22:12.740
Of course, what I didn't know
was that in the meantime,

00:22:12.830 --> 00:22:14.990
he'd gone to all
the major networks

00:22:15.080 --> 00:22:17.540
to try and get
interest in the interviews.

00:22:18.080 --> 00:22:20.920
l'm sorry, David,
but we have a policy

00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.420
of not paying
for a news interview.

00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:26.670
Look, we love your work
as an entertainer.

00:22:26.760 --> 00:22:27.840
That Guinness show?

00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:29.430
Love it. You're a funny guy.

00:22:29.510 --> 00:22:31.680
But an interview like this?

00:22:31.760 --> 00:22:34.680
You're asking us to pay
a British talk show host

00:22:34.770 --> 00:22:36.970
to interview
an American president

00:22:37.060 --> 00:22:40.690
with absolutely no
editorial controls
whatsoever in return?

00:22:40.770 --> 00:22:42.730
Well, you can't say
it's not a fresh approach.

00:22:42.810 --> 00:22:44.570
l know you're very busy.

00:22:44.690 --> 00:22:46.610
l'm not gonna
keep you from it.

00:22:47.280 --> 00:22:48.860
Thank you for coming in.

00:22:48.950 --> 00:22:51.030
l'm gonna have to
get back to you.

00:22:51.110 --> 00:22:53.950
Okay, thank you so
much for your time.

00:22:54.030 --> 00:22:55.080
David, good luck.

00:22:55.160 --> 00:22:57.540
He never let on
to anyone at the time,

00:22:57.620 --> 00:22:58.790
not even me.
You know,
that would have meant. . .

00:22:59.710 --> 00:23:00.710
Thanks.

00:23:00.790 --> 00:23:04.340
...admitting failure,
and David doesn't do failure.

00:23:35.450 --> 00:23:37.370
FROST: There you are.

00:23:37.450 --> 00:23:39.950
See, you don't have
to do a thing yourself.

00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:45.290
(lN DlSTlNCT)

00:23:59.270 --> 00:24:00.350
Well.

00:24:01.020 --> 00:24:02.140
You found it okay.

00:24:02.230 --> 00:24:03.350
Yes, thank you.

00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:04.600
Pleasure to meet you,
Mr. Frost.

00:24:04.690 --> 00:24:05.770
And you, sir.

00:24:05.860 --> 00:24:07.360
May l present
Caroline Cushing?

00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:08.480
Miss Cushing.

00:24:08.570 --> 00:24:10.650
Hello.
Your house is
very beautiful.

00:24:10.740 --> 00:24:11.900
Really. Very romantic.

00:24:11.990 --> 00:24:13.070
Well, thank you.

00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:14.950
And my producer, John Birt.

00:24:15.030 --> 00:24:16.570
Nice to meet you.
How do you do?

00:24:16.660 --> 00:24:20.080
This is Mr. Lazar,
and this is Jack Brennan.

00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.460
Now, Miss Cushing,
would you like
to take a tour,

00:24:22.540 --> 00:24:24.830
you know,
maybe stretch your legs
after your long journey?

00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:27.590
Yes, please.
l'd love that. Thank you.

00:24:28.630 --> 00:24:30.670
Come on in.
This is my office.

00:24:30.760 --> 00:24:34.880
Now, this is where Brezhnev
and l had our summit.

00:24:34.970 --> 00:24:39.350
Yeah. Brezhnev was there,
and Gromyko there,
Dobrynin there.

00:24:40.020 --> 00:24:43.520
We talked for
nine hours straight.

00:24:44.730 --> 00:24:48.190
After the meeting,
as a souvenir of the visit,

00:24:48.270 --> 00:24:52.530
l remember that we had
a Lincoln specially made.

00:24:52.610 --> 00:24:55.820
Dark blue,
cherry wood, leather.

00:24:55.910 --> 00:24:58.530
Well, we got inside
for the photographers,

00:24:58.620 --> 00:25:02.870
when the next thing you know,
he steps on the gas.

00:25:02.950 --> 00:25:07.670
Now, the first rule
of political life is

00:25:07.750 --> 00:25:12.170
you never let a president
get behind the wheel
of a car, ever.

00:25:12.260 --> 00:25:14.260
l mean, we're not
used to doing anything

00:25:14.340 --> 00:25:16.300
for ourselves,
let alone drive.

00:25:16.380 --> 00:25:19.550
And the Chairman, Jesus,
the way he put his foot down,

00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:22.390
my guess is
the last thing he drove was

00:25:22.470 --> 00:25:25.520
a tractor on some
Ukrainian potato farm.

00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:28.980
He crashed into curbs.

00:25:29.060 --> 00:25:30.520
He went over speed bumps.

00:25:30.610 --> 00:25:33.530
He went twice
around my whole estate.

00:25:33.610 --> 00:25:38.360
Finally, we ended up
at some remote point
on the coast,

00:25:38.450 --> 00:25:41.370
out there
overlooking the sea.

00:25:41.450 --> 00:25:45.660
He turns off the gas,
and he talks for two hours

00:25:45.750 --> 00:25:49.210
about his favorite subject,
steel mills.

00:25:49.290 --> 00:25:52.040
He said, "Mr. President,
most politicians

00:25:52.130 --> 00:25:54.800
"have tragedy
in their early lives."

00:25:55.720 --> 00:25:59.890
Well, l told him that
l lost two brothers
to tuberculosis.

00:25:59.970 --> 00:26:04.970
And he watched his father
die from the cancer
he caught in the steelworks.

00:26:05.890 --> 00:26:10.270
He was a sad man
and a noble adversary.

00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:13.320
l wouldn't want to
be a Russian leader.

00:26:13.820 --> 00:26:16.150
They never know when
they're being taped.

00:26:21.780 --> 00:26:23.580
Okay, l guess that's
it then, huh?

00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:25.450
Until March.
l look forward to it.

00:26:25.540 --> 00:26:27.410
Well, thank you,
Mr. President. So do l.

00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:29.080
You know,
it's a funny thing that

00:26:29.170 --> 00:26:32.880
l've never been
challenged to a duel before.

00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:34.210
l guess that's what this is.

00:26:34.300 --> 00:26:36.210
FROST: Yeah, well, not really.

00:26:37.300 --> 00:26:38.880
Of course it is.

00:26:41.010 --> 00:26:42.680
And l like that.

00:26:44.010 --> 00:26:47.930
No holds barred, eh?
No holds barred.

00:26:51.810 --> 00:26:55.980
Mr. Frost, there's still
the small matter of the. . .

00:26:57.490 --> 00:26:58.740
Of course.

00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:02.660
l do beg your pardon.

00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:18.210
Right. $200,000.

00:27:18.590 --> 00:27:21.470
l do hope that isn't coming
out of your own pocket.

00:27:21.550 --> 00:27:24.640
Well, believe me,
sir, l wish my pockets
were that deep.

00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:27.310
Made out in the name of?

00:27:27.390 --> 00:27:28.520
lrving Paul Lazar.

00:27:28.600 --> 00:27:30.430
Richard M. Nixon.

00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:40.570
Here you go.

00:27:41.910 --> 00:27:43.740
MANOLO: Okay, smile.

00:27:45.120 --> 00:27:48.370
There. Now you can
put that in your
apartment in New York,

00:27:48.450 --> 00:27:52.000
and all your liberal friends
can use it as a dartboard.

00:27:52.080 --> 00:27:55.790
Well, actually,
l'm living in Monte Carlo
at the moment.

00:27:55.880 --> 00:27:57.250
Really?

00:27:57.340 --> 00:27:59.170
Yes. Goodbye, Mr. President.

00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:03.630
Hey. Take my advice.

00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:05.260
You should marry that woman.

00:28:05.350 --> 00:28:08.560
Yes. Lovely, isn't she?

00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:11.600
More important than that,
she comes from Monaco.

00:28:11.690 --> 00:28:13.730
They pay no taxes there.

00:28:15.020 --> 00:28:16.940
Bye-bye.
Goodbye.

00:28:25.450 --> 00:28:27.070
l bet you it did.

00:28:27.160 --> 00:28:28.200
What?

00:28:28.280 --> 00:28:29.660
Come out of his own pocket.

00:28:29.740 --> 00:28:31.870
You know, he couldn't
look me in the eye.

00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:33.540
Well, l hear
the networks
aren't biting.

00:28:33.620 --> 00:28:35.710
Without the networks,
the ad agencies
don't want to know.

00:28:35.790 --> 00:28:37.040
So if you ask me,
there's a good chance

00:28:37.130 --> 00:28:38.250
this whole thing
may never happen.

00:28:38.340 --> 00:28:43.550
Really?
So that meeting we just had
might have cost him $200,000?

00:28:43.630 --> 00:28:44.720
Correct.

00:28:45.590 --> 00:28:49.050
Had l known that,
l would have offered
him a cup of tea.

00:28:49.510 --> 00:28:51.890
Say, did you
notice his shoes?

00:28:51.980 --> 00:28:53.020
No.

00:28:53.100 --> 00:28:56.600
ltalian. No laces.
What do you think?

00:28:57.400 --> 00:28:59.770
My people tried to get me
to wear a pair like that.

00:28:59.860 --> 00:29:02.440
l think a man's shoes
should have laces, sir.

00:29:02.650 --> 00:29:03.650
You do?

00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:07.320
Yeah. Personally,
l find those ltalian
shoes very effeminate.

00:29:08.830 --> 00:29:10.450
Yes, quite right.

00:29:13.330 --> 00:29:15.410
NBC EXECUTIVE: I'm sorry,
David, but it's a no.

00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:17.250
Try to look at it
from our point of view.

00:29:17.330 --> 00:29:20.250
Why would an American network
hire a total outsider,

00:29:20.340 --> 00:29:23.590
and someone who's already
had his own show canceled,
incidentally?

00:29:23.670 --> 00:29:25.170
l see. Well, l'm sorry
you feel this way.

00:29:25.260 --> 00:29:28.140
Obviously,
l think you're making
a terrible mistake.

00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:32.100
N BC.

00:29:33.520 --> 00:29:37.600
Well, that's
the networks out,
all of them.

00:29:39.190 --> 00:29:41.270
Well, that's the
end of that, then.

00:29:46.450 --> 00:29:48.240
l'm sorry, David.

00:29:48.910 --> 00:29:50.700
Not so fast.

00:29:52.120 --> 00:29:54.620
Where's your
adventurer's spirit?

00:29:54.700 --> 00:29:56.660
The idea is
we pay for the program

00:29:56.750 --> 00:30:01.790
and syndicate it
ourselves, completely
bypassing the networks.

00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:04.460
Just imagine it,
we'd be our own
network for the night.

00:30:04.550 --> 00:30:06.420
Hey, Bob.
FROST: How does that grab you?

00:30:06.510 --> 00:30:08.340
Hey, come on in.
David's on the phone.

00:30:08.430 --> 00:30:10.260
FROST: No, never been
done before.

00:30:10.350 --> 00:30:11.930
Historic stuff.

00:30:15.310 --> 00:30:18.390
Just think about it, okay?
And call me back.

00:30:19.060 --> 00:30:20.520
Yeah?
Yeah.

00:30:20.610 --> 00:30:23.650
David, l'd like you
to meet Jim Reston
and Bob Zelnick,

00:30:23.730 --> 00:30:24.900
our two prospective
corner men.

00:30:24.980 --> 00:30:26.070
Delighted to meet you.

00:30:26.150 --> 00:30:27.950
Come on in.
Make yourselves at home.

00:30:28.030 --> 00:30:29.320
Bob's been
Washington correspondent

00:30:29.410 --> 00:30:30.700
for Public Radio
for the past 10 years.

00:30:30.780 --> 00:30:32.990
Moving to ABC
in the new year.

00:30:33.080 --> 00:30:34.370
The general feeling, David,

00:30:34.450 --> 00:30:38.250
is that l have been
wasting my matinee idol
looks on radio.

00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:40.870
Jim here teaches
at the University
of North Carolina

00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:44.800
and is writing a book
about the criminal
dishonesty, corruption,

00:30:45.510 --> 00:30:47.920
paranoia and abuses of
power of Richard Nixon.

00:30:48.010 --> 00:30:49.470
Second on the subject.

00:30:49.550 --> 00:30:50.590
Fourth.

00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:52.720
Well, delighted to
have you both aboard.

00:30:52.800 --> 00:30:55.220
Actually, before l sign on,
l would like to hear

00:30:55.310 --> 00:30:58.180
what you were
hoping to achieve
with this interview.

00:30:58.770 --> 00:31:00.770
What l want to achieve?

00:31:00.850 --> 00:31:02.100
Yeah.

00:31:02.610 --> 00:31:06.280
Jim, well,
l've secured 12 taping days.

00:31:06.360 --> 00:31:08.280
That's close to 30 hours

00:31:08.360 --> 00:31:10.530
with the most compelling
and controversial politician

00:31:10.610 --> 00:31:12.360
of our times.

00:31:12.450 --> 00:31:13.950
lsn't that enough?

00:31:15.830 --> 00:31:17.160
Well, not for me.

00:31:18.500 --> 00:31:21.830
Look, l'd be giving up
a year of my life.
l'm leaving my family

00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:24.540
to work on
a subject matter
that means more

00:31:24.630 --> 00:31:26.340
than you can
probably imagine,

00:31:26.420 --> 00:31:27.500
and the idea
of doing all that

00:31:27.590 --> 00:31:31.010
without achieving what
l want to, personally,

00:31:31.090 --> 00:31:32.800
would be unthinkable to me.

00:31:32.930 --> 00:31:34.140
(lNTERRU PTlNG)
FROST: No, all right.

00:31:34.890 --> 00:31:37.600
Well, what is it that
you want to achieve?

00:31:43.230 --> 00:31:46.190
l'd like to
give Richard Nixon
the trial he never had.

00:31:46.270 --> 00:31:49.530
Of course,
we'll be asking
difficult questions.

00:31:49.610 --> 00:31:51.280
Difficult questions.

00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:54.410
The man lost 21,000 Americans

00:31:54.490 --> 00:31:56.910
and a million lndo-Chinese
during his administration.

00:31:56.990 --> 00:31:59.750
He only escaped jail
because of Ford's pardon.

00:31:59.830 --> 00:32:03.120
Yes, but equally,
going after him
in some knee-jerk way,

00:32:03.210 --> 00:32:06.750
you know, assuming
he's a terrible guy,

00:32:06.840 --> 00:32:10.510
wouldn't that only create
more sympathy for him
than anything else?

00:32:10.590 --> 00:32:12.050
(SlGHS) You know. . .

00:32:14.260 --> 00:32:16.050
Right now,
l submit it's impossible

00:32:16.140 --> 00:32:19.600
to feel anything
close to sympathy
for Richard Nixon.

00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:21.810
He devalued the presidency,

00:32:21.890 --> 00:32:25.520
and he left the country
that elected him in trauma.

00:32:26.650 --> 00:32:30.320
The American people
need a conviction,
pure and simple.

00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:33.110
The integrity of
our political system,

00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:38.990
of democracy as an idea,
entirely depends on it.

00:32:39.080 --> 00:32:41.370
And if in years to come,
people look back

00:32:41.450 --> 00:32:42.830
and say it was
in this interview

00:32:42.910 --> 00:32:44.500
that Richard Nixon
exonerated himself,

00:32:44.580 --> 00:32:46.790
that would be
the worst crime of all.

00:32:56.510 --> 00:32:59.550
Did you know that
Mike Wallace is doing
a piece on this?

00:33:01.520 --> 00:33:04.180
And that in the bars around
Capitol Hill and Georgetown

00:33:04.270 --> 00:33:06.020
this entire project is a joke?

00:33:06.100 --> 00:33:08.770
ZELN lCK: Come on.
Jim, come on.

00:33:08.860 --> 00:33:11.190
Thanks for that, Jim.

00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:14.570
Could you give us
a couple of minutes?

00:33:21.790 --> 00:33:23.290
You're unbelievable.
l'm sorry, Bob.

00:33:23.370 --> 00:33:25.580
You know, Jim,
l went way out
on a limb for you.

00:33:25.670 --> 00:33:27.250
l mean, some of us
actually want this job.

00:33:27.330 --> 00:33:28.830
l want it, too,
if it's done right.

00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:30.670
Well, how do you know
they're not
gonna do it right?

00:33:30.750 --> 00:33:32.000
Little Lord Fauntleroy
in there?

00:33:32.090 --> 00:33:33.260
Sympathy for Richard Nixon?

00:33:33.340 --> 00:33:34.970
What the. . .
He's full of shit, man !

00:33:35.050 --> 00:33:36.590
How do you know that?

00:33:38.760 --> 00:33:41.760
ls Mike Wallace
doing a piece on this?

00:33:43.020 --> 00:33:44.020
Apparently.

00:33:44.100 --> 00:33:45.770
Why didn't you tell me?

00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:47.890
lt isn't relevant.

00:33:48.980 --> 00:33:52.730
What's the angle?
"British talk show host,

00:33:53.480 --> 00:33:57.240
"good with actresses,
not so good with
stonewalling presidents."

00:33:57.530 --> 00:33:59.320
That's the general idea, yeah.

00:33:59.410 --> 00:34:00.620
Right.

00:34:01.830 --> 00:34:04.580
lt's hard not to feel
a little insulted by that.

00:34:06.290 --> 00:34:08.710
Well, Bob's obviously a pro.

00:34:08.790 --> 00:34:10.000
What are we gonna
do about Reston?

00:34:10.080 --> 00:34:11.630
Well, the man's an idiot.
He's overemotional.

00:34:11.710 --> 00:34:12.960
Send him home.

00:34:14.380 --> 00:34:16.340
Well, l think
he should stay.
Why?

00:34:16.420 --> 00:34:19.720
l liked his passion.

00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:21.800
He will drive us
all bloody mad.

00:34:22.310 --> 00:34:25.060
Well, maybe, but sometimes
being out of your comfort zone

00:34:25.140 --> 00:34:27.810
is a good thing, l'm told.

00:34:28.810 --> 00:34:30.100
He stays.

00:34:40.700 --> 00:34:44.830
l took my seat
next to Mrs. Mao
at the banquet table.

00:34:45.450 --> 00:34:50.170
Now, one of the challenges
of life as a president

00:34:50.830 --> 00:34:57.800
is the endless round
of cocktail parties,
social engagements, banquets.

00:34:58.510 --> 00:35:00.510
And people who
know me would tell you

00:35:00.590 --> 00:35:04.850
that small talk is not one of
my strong suits, either. No.

00:35:05.520 --> 00:35:08.600
Particularly not in Mandarin.

00:35:11.600 --> 00:35:16.610
So Mrs. Mao and I,
we just, well, you know,
stared at one another.

00:35:17.740 --> 00:35:22.030
And then across the table,
Mrs. Nixon and
Chairman Mao himself, well,

00:35:22.870 --> 00:35:25.240
they stared
at one another, too.

00:35:25.330 --> 00:35:28.160
And then further down,
Dr. Kissinger

00:35:28.250 --> 00:35:31.080
and their
foreign minister, well,

00:35:31.580 --> 00:35:34.630
you're getting
the picture now.

00:35:39.300 --> 00:35:41.260
l can't stand it, Jack!

00:35:42.550 --> 00:35:47.720
Reducing the presidency
to a series
of banal anecdotes.

00:35:47.890 --> 00:35:50.730
l feel like
a circus animal
doing tricks.

00:35:50.940 --> 00:35:52.690
And l thought
l made it clear!

00:35:52.770 --> 00:35:57.320
l didn't want to take
any questions
on Watergate, damn it!

00:35:58.730 --> 00:36:01.110
Soon as it came
to question time,

00:36:01.200 --> 00:36:05.820
all those sons of bitches
ever want to hear about
is Watergate!

00:36:05.910 --> 00:36:10.370
lt's as if all
my other achievements
have ceased to exist.

00:36:10.450 --> 00:36:11.710
Well, sir, you're
gonna get a chance

00:36:11.790 --> 00:36:13.080
to talk about them
sooner than you think.

00:36:13.170 --> 00:36:14.830
Yeah? How?

00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:17.290
Frost got there.
He got the money.

00:36:18.590 --> 00:36:20.010
What?

00:36:20.090 --> 00:36:21.510
l understand
most of it's borrowed,

00:36:21.590 --> 00:36:23.340
that his friends
have bailed him out.

00:36:23.430 --> 00:36:25.640
But the point is,
we start taping
at the end of March.

00:36:25.720 --> 00:36:28.430
Really? Now, that's terrific.

00:36:28.510 --> 00:36:30.270
How much time is
devoted to Watergate?

00:36:30.350 --> 00:36:33.190
25%. Just one of
four 90-minute shows.

00:36:33.270 --> 00:36:35.270
What are the other
three divided into?

00:36:35.350 --> 00:36:37.360
Domestic Affairs,
Foreign Policy,

00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:38.520
and Nixon the Man.

00:36:38.610 --> 00:36:39.570
"Nixon the Man"?

00:36:39.650 --> 00:36:41.820
As opposed to what?
Nixon the horse?

00:36:41.900 --> 00:36:45.070
Well, l imagine
it's some kind of
biographical piece.

00:36:46.490 --> 00:36:50.990
l can see it now.
The father that neglected me,
the brothers that died.

00:36:51.080 --> 00:36:53.120
Spare me.

00:36:53.210 --> 00:36:58.250
Still, now, the fact
it's come together, now,
that's a good thing, no?

00:36:58.340 --> 00:37:01.550
Mr. President, it's fantastic.

00:37:01.630 --> 00:37:03.920
Frost is just not in
your intellectual class, sir.

00:37:04.010 --> 00:37:07.470
You're gonna be
able to dictate terms,
rebuild your reputation.

00:37:07.550 --> 00:37:12.470
lf this went well,
if enough people saw it,
revised their opinion,

00:37:12.560 --> 00:37:15.810
you could move back East
way, way earlier
than we expected.

00:37:15.900 --> 00:37:17.770
You think?
l'm certain.

00:37:19.270 --> 00:37:25.360
lt would be so good
to go back to where
the action is.

00:37:25.450 --> 00:37:26.740
You know?

00:37:26.820 --> 00:37:30.330
The hunger in my belly
is still there, Jack.

00:37:33.250 --> 00:37:36.330
l guess it all boils down
to Watergate, huh?

00:37:36.420 --> 00:37:39.080
Well, that's nothing
to worry about, sir.

00:37:39.170 --> 00:37:41.880
lt's not as if
there's gonna be
any revelations.

00:37:41.960 --> 00:37:44.670
That stuff's been combed over
a million times.

00:37:44.760 --> 00:37:47.050
No one has pinned
anything on you.

00:37:47.130 --> 00:37:49.590
Yeah, still,
it's been a while

00:37:49.680 --> 00:37:51.180
since l spoke about it
on the record.

00:37:51.260 --> 00:37:53.010
l'm gonna start
doing my homework.

00:37:53.100 --> 00:37:55.850
Hey, you know what would
be an interesting
thing to find out?

00:37:55.940 --> 00:37:57.020
What his strategy is.

00:37:57.100 --> 00:37:58.140
Now, where's he staying?

00:37:58.230 --> 00:37:59.770
l believe The Beverly Hilton.

00:37:59.860 --> 00:38:01.360
The Beverly Hilton, you say.

00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:03.860
Well, l got
the numbers someplace

00:38:03.940 --> 00:38:06.320
of some fellows
that we could send in.

00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:09.030
Cubans with ClA training.

00:38:17.500 --> 00:38:19.420
Jesus, Jack, it was a joke.

00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:22.340
Yes, sir.

00:38:26.170 --> 00:38:28.170
RESTON: A week later,
we said goodbye
to our families,

00:38:28.260 --> 00:38:31.340
we hopped on a plane,
and we moved into
The Beverly Hilton.

00:38:31.430 --> 00:38:33.430
And that's where we
started to dig into
our research

00:38:33.510 --> 00:38:36.060
and prepare
for the interviews.

00:38:37.020 --> 00:38:38.180
Yeah, as it happens, we took

00:38:38.270 --> 00:38:40.440
the whole question
of security very seriously.

00:38:42.820 --> 00:38:46.230
BlRT: And from day one,
we kept all our files
in a locked safe.

00:38:49.950 --> 00:38:53.160
Who was the guy
that Mike interviewed?
Was that Haldeman?

00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:54.870
BlRT: Haldeman.
RESTON : Haldeman.
And Ehrlichman, too.

00:38:54.950 --> 00:38:57.450
l always get
the Germans mixed up.

00:38:57.540 --> 00:39:00.120
l'm a little
confused by that.

00:39:00.210 --> 00:39:02.960
What is Haldeman's
official. . .
Hello, darling.

00:39:03.590 --> 00:39:06.710
As for the work over
the months, we divided it
into three sections.

00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:10.340
Birt took Vietnam,
Bob took Foreign
and Domestic Policy,

00:39:10.430 --> 00:39:13.600
and l got Watergate
and the abuses of power.

00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:16.560
And David,
we never really
saw much of David.

00:39:16.640 --> 00:39:18.140
RESTON : All right, so what
about the Huston Plan?

00:39:18.230 --> 00:39:20.020
You can see the seeds
of dirty tricks.

00:39:20.100 --> 00:39:23.520
Essentially,
it's an attempt to
legalize dirty tricks.

00:39:23.610 --> 00:39:25.690
That's why you gotta
get David to put it
in the question.

00:39:25.780 --> 00:39:26.860
Wiretapping students.

00:39:26.940 --> 00:39:28.360
N IXON ON TAPE: But they've
traced the money to him.

00:39:28.440 --> 00:39:29.990
RESTON : Opening people's mail.

00:39:30.070 --> 00:39:31.070
What about wiretapping?

00:39:31.160 --> 00:39:32.160
How many people
has he wiretapped?

00:39:32.240 --> 00:39:34.490
This guy wiretapped
17 people.

00:39:34.580 --> 00:39:35.620
BlRT: Seventeen?

00:39:35.700 --> 00:39:36.700
lncluding his own brother.

00:39:36.790 --> 00:39:38.700
But you know what?
We can't ask him
about his brother,

00:39:38.790 --> 00:39:41.540
'cause frankly,
if Donald Nixon
was my brother,

00:39:41.620 --> 00:39:43.750
l'd wiretap him, too.

00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:48.130
RESTON : But wait, okay,
so we have
breaking and entering.

00:39:48.380 --> 00:39:51.840
We have wiretapping,
conspiracy to
foster prostitution.

00:39:51.930 --> 00:39:53.180
And that's Liddy, right?

00:39:53.260 --> 00:39:55.510
Delivery courtesy
of Nate 'n Al's

00:39:55.640 --> 00:39:57.310
finest deli selection.

00:39:57.390 --> 00:39:59.890
We're going to need napkins.
We'd better have some napkins.

00:39:59.980 --> 00:40:01.850
How do we frame a question
about Cambodia,

00:40:01.940 --> 00:40:02.940
about the illicit
bombing of Cambodia?

00:40:03.020 --> 00:40:04.020
l think you should say,

00:40:04.110 --> 00:40:05.730
"How far do you take
executive privilege

00:40:05.820 --> 00:40:07.440
"before it becomes
an undemocratic event?"

00:40:07.530 --> 00:40:09.780
l think you frame
the question to him
as a Quaker.

00:40:09.860 --> 00:40:13.570
"How do you feel as
a Quaker about annihilating
an entire people?"

00:40:17.080 --> 00:40:19.660
FROST: Come on.
Are they really
interested in buying time?

00:40:19.750 --> 00:40:21.330
Are they going to
give us the money?

00:40:21.410 --> 00:40:22.910
How serious are they?

00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:26.500
You have to set up that
he has an anti-democratic
personality.

00:40:26.590 --> 00:40:28.250
There's a reason they
call him Tricky Dick.

00:40:28.340 --> 00:40:31.840
Because l had written about
and watched Nixon for years,

00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:34.050
l got to play him
in our rehearsals.

00:40:34.140 --> 00:40:36.180
You know,
the fellas would
throw me a question,

00:40:36.260 --> 00:40:39.140
and l would try and anticipate
what his response might be.

00:40:39.220 --> 00:40:41.270
BlRT: Okay,
the White House
taping system.

00:40:41.350 --> 00:40:44.640
Ours is not
the first administration
to use taping systems.

00:40:44.730 --> 00:40:46.560
Lyndon Johnson's
White House used them.
So did Kennedy's.

00:40:46.650 --> 00:40:49.270
Huston Plan.
Wiretapping and alleged
abuses of power.

00:40:49.360 --> 00:40:53.190
Let me tell you,
other administrations
were up to far worse.

00:40:53.450 --> 00:40:56.610
And just for fun,
your close
friend Jack Kennedy.

00:40:57.280 --> 00:40:59.870
That man, he screwed
anything that moved,

00:41:00.040 --> 00:41:02.620
fixed elections
and took us into Vietnam.

00:41:02.710 --> 00:41:05.000
And the American people,
they loved him for it!

00:41:05.080 --> 00:41:08.000
Whereas l,
Richard Milhous Nixon,

00:41:08.090 --> 00:41:12.010
worked around the clock
in their service,
and they hated me!

00:41:12.470 --> 00:41:16.430
Look. Look. Now l'm sweating.

00:41:16.510 --> 00:41:18.930
Damn it! Damn it!

00:41:19.010 --> 00:41:22.100
And Kennedy's
so goddamn handsome
and blue-eyed !

00:41:22.180 --> 00:41:23.640
And women all over him !

00:41:23.730 --> 00:41:26.020
He screwed anything
that moved, and everything.

00:41:26.100 --> 00:41:27.350
Had a go at Checkers once.

00:41:27.440 --> 00:41:29.860
The poor little bitch
was never the same!

00:41:31.690 --> 00:41:35.610
Gentlemen, finally a friend
in the American press.

00:41:35.700 --> 00:41:38.320
CAROLlN E: Jack Anderson
in The Washington Post,

00:41:38.410 --> 00:41:40.780
"When Richard Nixon faces
the television cameras

00:41:40.870 --> 00:41:43.620
"for his first interview
since he abandoned
the White House,

00:41:43.700 --> 00:41:47.080
"he'll be cross-examined
as if he were on
the witness stand.

00:41:47.170 --> 00:41:50.380
"Frost has hired
three crack investigators

00:41:50.460 --> 00:41:52.130
"to help him
with the research.

00:41:52.210 --> 00:41:55.420
"Clearly
the famous TV interviewer
will pull no punches."

00:41:55.510 --> 00:41:56.930
"Crack investigators"?

00:41:57.010 --> 00:41:58.050
Can l be Crack One?

00:41:58.140 --> 00:41:59.590
Can l be Deep Crack?

00:42:01.760 --> 00:42:03.640
David, can l talk
to you for a sec?

00:42:03.720 --> 00:42:05.100
After researching
my last book,

00:42:05.180 --> 00:42:06.520
l was pretty
certain Colson. . .

00:42:06.600 --> 00:42:08.850
You know, Charles Colson?
His darkest henchman?

00:42:08.980 --> 00:42:10.270
Colson, right.
Colson had a
meeting with Nixon

00:42:10.360 --> 00:42:11.360
(PHON E RlNGlNG)

00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:12.570
sometime before June 23,

00:42:12.650 --> 00:42:14.070
but l never knew
the exact date,

00:42:14.150 --> 00:42:15.860
so l couldn't
find the transcript.

00:42:15.950 --> 00:42:18.110
But if you gave me
a week back in the
Federal Courthouse library. . .

00:42:18.200 --> 00:42:21.870
A week? Goodness, Jim,
we can't lose you
for that long.

00:42:21.950 --> 00:42:23.330
l think this is
really good stuff, Dave.

00:42:23.410 --> 00:42:25.370
Would there be something
l could help you with?

00:42:25.450 --> 00:42:27.870
You know, if we're
gonna nail Nixon
in these interviews,

00:42:27.960 --> 00:42:29.370
we're gonna
have to ambush him.

00:42:29.460 --> 00:42:30.790
We're gonna have to
take him by surprise.

00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:33.040
Don't worry, Jim.
We'll get him anyway.

00:42:33.130 --> 00:42:35.710
Hang on a second.
David, Jack Brennan.

00:42:35.800 --> 00:42:37.260
He sounds a little emotional.

00:42:37.340 --> 00:42:38.800
l'll take it in here.

00:42:38.880 --> 00:42:40.800
He'll be right
with you. Yeah.

00:42:44.010 --> 00:42:45.600
Jack.
Watergate.

00:42:45.680 --> 00:42:46.770
Yes, Jack.

00:42:46.850 --> 00:42:50.440
Our lawyers want us to agree
on a definition of the word.

00:42:50.520 --> 00:42:52.400
Well, l believe
it's a large hotel

00:42:52.480 --> 00:42:54.570
and office complex
in Washington, Jack.

00:42:54.650 --> 00:42:55.730
You know what
l'm talking about.

00:42:55.820 --> 00:42:57.280
For the interviews.

00:42:57.490 --> 00:42:59.400
We want to propose
that Watergate

00:42:59.490 --> 00:43:01.990
be an umbrella term
for everything negative.

00:43:02.830 --> 00:43:03.830
(STAMMERS)

00:43:03.910 --> 00:43:05.290
Hold on a minute.

00:43:09.250 --> 00:43:11.960
So all the other
domestic charges

00:43:12.040 --> 00:43:13.420
against him,
the Brookings lnstitute,

00:43:13.500 --> 00:43:15.590
the Plumbers Union,
the Enemies List,

00:43:15.670 --> 00:43:18.170
you're saying all that
goes into Watergate?

00:43:18.920 --> 00:43:20.510
Correct.

00:43:20.590 --> 00:43:23.090
That is absurd
and a clear breach

00:43:23.180 --> 00:43:25.180
of the terms
of our agreement.

00:43:25.260 --> 00:43:28.310
Okay. How would
you define Watergate?

00:43:28.390 --> 00:43:29.600
Well, that it covers
just that.

00:43:29.690 --> 00:43:31.440
The Watergate
break-in of June 17th

00:43:31.520 --> 00:43:33.810
and the subsequent
cover-up and investigation.

00:43:33.900 --> 00:43:35.610
Fine. ln which case,
the deal is off.

00:43:35.690 --> 00:43:39.190
Fine. ln which case,
you can expect a lawsuit

00:43:39.320 --> 00:43:41.450
for something
in excess of $20 million

00:43:41.530 --> 00:43:43.570
in damages and
loss of earnings.

00:43:43.660 --> 00:43:46.490
The terms of the contract
clearly stipulate

00:43:46.580 --> 00:43:50.200
that Watergate take up
no more than 25% of the time.

00:43:50.290 --> 00:43:53.170
Yes, but nowhere does it say
that for the rest of the 75%

00:43:53.250 --> 00:43:55.750
he gets to drone on
and sound presidential.

00:43:57.380 --> 00:44:01.590
"Drone on"? Jesus Christ.
Where's your respect?

00:44:01.680 --> 00:44:04.470
You remember
who you're
talking about here.

00:44:04.550 --> 00:44:08.260
You know as well as l do
that 60% of what he did
in office was right,

00:44:08.350 --> 00:44:12.190
and 30% may have been wrong,
but he thought it was right
at the time.

00:44:12.270 --> 00:44:14.190
Yes, but that
still leaves 10%

00:44:14.270 --> 00:44:16.690
where he was doing
the wrong thing and knew it.

00:44:17.940 --> 00:44:21.530
You goddamn media people.
You are so smug.

00:44:22.240 --> 00:44:25.780
Well, l can guarantee you
if you screw us on the 60%,

00:44:25.870 --> 00:44:29.410
l will ruin you if it takes
the rest of my life.

00:44:31.750 --> 00:44:32.750
Prick.

00:44:52.230 --> 00:44:53.940
Look at you. Gorgeous.

00:44:56.360 --> 00:44:57.610
Good night, sweet princes.

00:44:57.690 --> 00:44:59.320
Cheerio.
Bye.

00:44:59.400 --> 00:45:01.610
See you in the morning.

00:45:01.690 --> 00:45:02.940
(DOOR CLOSES)

00:45:04.150 --> 00:45:06.240
Why the monkey suit?

00:45:06.320 --> 00:45:08.280
David has a film premiere
he needs to attend.

00:45:08.370 --> 00:45:10.870
What? The night
before we start taping?

00:45:10.950 --> 00:45:12.620
What's the movie?

00:45:14.160 --> 00:45:16.580
It's The SIipper and the Rose.

00:45:17.920 --> 00:45:19.130
The Cinderella movie?

00:45:19.210 --> 00:45:21.420
Yeah. David's
the executive producer.

00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:24.050
You don't think it might be
an idea for our interviewer

00:45:24.130 --> 00:45:26.380
to be rested and focused
on the job in hand?

00:45:26.470 --> 00:45:28.090
BlRT: Don't worry.

00:45:28.180 --> 00:45:30.600
David is a performer
of the highest caliber.

00:45:30.680 --> 00:45:33.140
He's been in these
pressure situations
many times before.

00:45:33.230 --> 00:45:36.440
Come the hour,
he'll be fine. Okay?

00:45:41.820 --> 00:45:43.740
What did he say?
Did he say "performer"?

00:45:43.820 --> 00:45:45.610
Yeah.
That's the word he used?

00:45:45.700 --> 00:45:46.900
Yeah, he said "performer."

00:45:46.990 --> 00:45:48.110
Not "journalist"
or "interviewer"?

00:45:48.200 --> 00:45:51.280
No. He said "performer."

00:45:51.370 --> 00:45:55.500
Out of curiosity,
where are you at this
moment? Psychically?

00:45:57.580 --> 00:46:02.300
l am imagining the dust,
the darkness,

00:46:02.380 --> 00:46:05.920
the agony and the
unimaginable loneliness

00:46:06.010 --> 00:46:09.090
of the wilderness
l am about to
be dispatched to

00:46:09.180 --> 00:46:11.930
by my Washington
political colleagues.

00:46:15.520 --> 00:46:17.140
(CH EERlNG)

00:46:23.030 --> 00:46:25.900
So any opportunity you get,
go right to foreign policy,
go right to Mao,

00:46:25.990 --> 00:46:27.200
go right to Khrushchev.

00:46:27.280 --> 00:46:28.450
Just go right!

00:46:28.530 --> 00:46:30.280
KHACH lGlAN :
You could do all day
on foreign policy, sir.

00:46:30.370 --> 00:46:31.950
PRlCE: l disagree
that the Mao banquet
story is stale.

00:46:32.030 --> 00:46:33.530
Excuse me, sir.
Something l think
you should see.

00:46:33.620 --> 00:46:34.660
GAN NON : People love
that story.

00:46:34.750 --> 00:46:35.790
SAWYER: Why don't we
save it for the book?

00:46:35.870 --> 00:46:37.870
KHACH lGlAN :
Yeah, right, come on.

00:46:40.040 --> 00:46:41.630
REPORTER 1: David.
REPORTER 2: Mr. Frost.

00:46:41.710 --> 00:46:43.750
REPORTER 1: David,
some people in the media
have suggested

00:46:43.840 --> 00:46:45.590
that you're not
the right man for the job,

00:46:45.670 --> 00:46:47.380
that you'll be
too soft on the President.

00:46:47.470 --> 00:46:49.300
What will you do
if he stonewalls you?

00:46:49.380 --> 00:46:51.090
FROST: Well, I shall
say so again and again.

00:46:51.180 --> 00:46:53.640
But l should say right now
that l'm not expecting

00:46:53.720 --> 00:46:56.600
his approach
to be to stonewall.

00:46:56.680 --> 00:47:00.310
l'm hoping that
it'll be that of
a cascade of candor.

00:47:00.400 --> 00:47:02.060
REPORTER 1:
"A cascade of candor"?

00:47:02.150 --> 00:47:03.770
From Richard Nixon?

00:47:03.860 --> 00:47:05.860
You think that's
what you'll get?

00:47:05.940 --> 00:47:09.200
No, l just
thought it was a phrase
that might appeal to you.

00:47:09.280 --> 00:47:10.820
REPORTER 1: So what
about the money?

00:47:10.910 --> 00:47:12.620
That's a strange fellow.

00:47:12.700 --> 00:47:14.660
Started life as a comic,
you know.

00:47:14.740 --> 00:47:15.870
N lXON : ls that so?
Mmm-hmm.

00:47:15.950 --> 00:47:17.830
Almost married
Diahann Carroll.

00:47:17.910 --> 00:47:18.870
Who?

00:47:18.960 --> 00:47:20.710
GAN NON : The singer.

00:47:22.170 --> 00:47:23.750
lsn't she black?

00:47:25.210 --> 00:47:26.550
Yes, sir.

00:47:27.590 --> 00:47:30.130
Right here
in the Frost file,
which we put together

00:47:30.220 --> 00:47:32.840
as part of
our general preparations.

00:47:32.930 --> 00:47:36.510
Okay. Let's get back to work.

00:47:36.600 --> 00:47:38.850
FROST: That's fact,
this is fiction.

00:47:38.930 --> 00:47:40.690
So now it's about
The Slipper and the Rose.

00:47:40.770 --> 00:47:42.100
lt's a cracker of a movie.

00:47:42.190 --> 00:47:44.060
l hope you'll all
come and see it, and. . .

00:47:48.440 --> 00:47:49.900
(ELEVATOR BELL DlNGS)

00:47:51.530 --> 00:47:53.280
l shouldn't have
ordered that coffee.

00:47:53.370 --> 00:47:55.070
Just don't drink any more.

00:47:57.950 --> 00:47:59.660
(lNAU DlBLE)

00:48:00.910 --> 00:48:02.620
Good luck.
Thank you.

00:48:04.880 --> 00:48:06.880
l'll be thinking of you.

00:48:11.760 --> 00:48:13.300
Dick. Wait.

00:48:28.820 --> 00:48:31.570
FROST: For the record,
l'm gonna be starting
with John's idea.

00:48:31.650 --> 00:48:33.400
"Why didn't you
burn the tapes?"

00:48:33.490 --> 00:48:34.740
No.
Fuck.

00:48:34.820 --> 00:48:37.530
Please, God, no! You can't.

00:48:37.620 --> 00:48:40.240
David, you can't do that.
lt would be a disaster.

00:48:40.330 --> 00:48:43.410
lt would get us
into Watergate way ahead
of the agreed time.

00:48:43.500 --> 00:48:46.170
What is the point of
having contractually set

00:48:46.250 --> 00:48:48.420
specific times to deal
with certain subjects

00:48:48.500 --> 00:48:50.130
if you're just
going to ignore it
right off the bat?

00:48:50.210 --> 00:48:51.420
'Cause it's war, isn't it?
Gloves off.

00:48:51.510 --> 00:48:52.720
l like it. lt's ballsy.

00:48:52.800 --> 00:48:54.010
Strategically,
it'll give us the upper hand.

00:48:54.090 --> 00:48:56.140
lt's insanely risky.

00:48:56.220 --> 00:48:57.640
He could walk
right off the set,

00:48:57.720 --> 00:48:59.100
and there's nothing
we could do about it.

00:48:59.180 --> 00:49:00.930
Worse, he could sue you !

00:49:01.020 --> 00:49:03.680
We were sadly
unable to do the taping
at Casa Pacifica

00:49:03.770 --> 00:49:06.060
because of the Coast Guard
radio interference,

00:49:06.150 --> 00:49:09.150
so we ended up
at the rather more
modest Smith house,

00:49:09.230 --> 00:49:11.730
which was owned
by a local Republican
businessman.

00:49:11.820 --> 00:49:12.820
(REPORTERS CLAMORlNG)

00:49:12.900 --> 00:49:14.450
PHOTOGRAPH ER: Right here!

00:49:14.530 --> 00:49:15.740
Mr. Frost, look over here.

00:49:15.820 --> 00:49:17.030
Over here, sir!

00:49:17.120 --> 00:49:18.280
Here we go.
OFFlCER: Back up
behind the curb.

00:49:18.370 --> 00:49:19.490
REPORTER 1:
A few questions, please.

00:49:19.580 --> 00:49:20.660
PHOTOGRAPH ER:
Right here, Mr. Frost.

00:49:20.740 --> 00:49:23.040
REPORTER 2: David !
David ! David !

00:49:23.540 --> 00:49:25.580
(ALL CLAMORlNG)

00:49:28.420 --> 00:49:29.880
FROST: Well, hello there.

00:49:31.340 --> 00:49:32.710
(SlREN BLARlNG)

00:49:34.050 --> 00:49:35.420
Excuse me, fellas.

00:49:51.230 --> 00:49:53.780
MAN : Nixon, there's
blood on your hands!

00:49:54.150 --> 00:49:55.320
WOMAN : Liar!

00:50:04.750 --> 00:50:06.790
MAN : Here comes the President!

00:50:06.870 --> 00:50:08.170
REPORTER 1: Mr. President!

00:50:08.250 --> 00:50:10.000
REPORTER 2: Mr. President!

00:50:11.040 --> 00:50:13.130
REPORTER 3: How are you
feeling, Mr. President?

00:50:13.260 --> 00:50:14.920
(REPORTERS CLAMORlNG)

00:50:15.260 --> 00:50:17.680
The Smith family requested
that the furniture
be put back in place.

00:50:17.760 --> 00:50:19.390
They talked to you
about that, too?

00:50:19.470 --> 00:50:21.260
They're bugging everybody.

00:50:26.270 --> 00:50:28.020
RESTON : You know,
l've written
four books about him,

00:50:28.100 --> 00:50:30.770
but this is the first
time l've actually seen
him in the flesh.

00:50:30.860 --> 00:50:33.940
He's taller than l imagined,
and tanned.

00:50:34.070 --> 00:50:36.320
The least he could
do is look ravaged.

00:50:38.860 --> 00:50:40.030
You gonna shake his hand?

00:50:40.120 --> 00:50:41.280
Am l gonna shake. . .

00:50:41.370 --> 00:50:42.660
Are you kidding me?

00:50:42.740 --> 00:50:44.370
After everything
that prick's done
to this country?

00:50:44.450 --> 00:50:45.750
l'm not gonna shake his hand.

00:50:45.830 --> 00:50:47.370
Gentlemen.

00:50:47.710 --> 00:50:51.750
May l present Bob Zelnick,
my executive editor?

00:50:51.840 --> 00:50:53.170
How do you do?

00:50:53.250 --> 00:50:54.550
Pleasure, Mr. President.

00:50:54.630 --> 00:50:57.420
FROST: And Jim Reston,
one of my researchers.

00:50:57.510 --> 00:50:59.760
Pleasure to meet you,
Mr. Reston.

00:51:03.100 --> 00:51:04.560
Mr. President.

00:51:04.640 --> 00:51:07.310
Excuse me, sir?
Got a room for
you right here.

00:51:11.770 --> 00:51:15.020
Wow. That was
devastating, withering.

00:51:15.110 --> 00:51:16.570
l mean, l don't think he's
ever gonna get over that.

00:51:16.650 --> 00:51:17.860
Yeah, fuck off.

00:51:17.940 --> 00:51:19.360
(CH UCKLES)

00:51:19.450 --> 00:51:22.240
l got you guys
set up back here.

00:51:22.320 --> 00:51:26.240
Now this is your green room.

00:51:26.330 --> 00:51:28.790
And the President will be
on the large monitor.

00:51:28.870 --> 00:51:30.580
Craft services is that way.

00:51:39.380 --> 00:51:40.800
Keep it about
that temperature, okay?

00:51:40.880 --> 00:51:41.880
Mr. President?

00:51:41.970 --> 00:51:42.970
Yeah.

00:51:43.050 --> 00:51:44.430
Before we start,
l just want to say

00:51:44.510 --> 00:51:47.600
how delighted we all are
by Mrs. Nixon's recovery.

00:51:47.680 --> 00:51:49.560
Well, thank you.
lt's true.

00:51:49.640 --> 00:51:51.600
She's much better now.

00:51:51.690 --> 00:51:56.230
She's just getting
round to the business
of replying to all the cards.

00:51:57.030 --> 00:51:59.530
And from our
point of view, well,

00:51:59.610 --> 00:52:02.280
l'd just like to say
how pleased we are

00:52:02.360 --> 00:52:03.780
that you got
this all together.

00:52:03.870 --> 00:52:04.910
Thank you.

00:52:04.990 --> 00:52:08.120
As l understand it,
it's been quite a struggle.

00:52:08.200 --> 00:52:09.250
Well. . .

00:52:09.330 --> 00:52:11.500
How much has it cost?

00:52:11.580 --> 00:52:14.920
You mind me asking?
Hey, come on.

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:17.590
Come on,
it's just between us.

00:52:17.670 --> 00:52:20.550
Very well. Two million.

00:52:20.630 --> 00:52:24.220
Two million? Jeez.
l didn't realize
we were making Ben-Hur.

00:52:24.300 --> 00:52:25.550
(LAUGHS U NCOMFORTABLY)

00:52:26.890 --> 00:52:29.560
But tell me something.

00:52:29.640 --> 00:52:31.930
You raised it all now?

00:52:33.150 --> 00:52:34.230
(H ESlTATES)

00:52:34.310 --> 00:52:37.060
Not quite.
But we're getting there.

00:52:37.150 --> 00:52:39.650
Everyone's been kind
and deferred fees.

00:52:40.070 --> 00:52:42.740
Well, not quite everyone.

00:52:44.070 --> 00:52:45.570
David, l'm gonna go in
with you on camera.

00:52:45.660 --> 00:52:47.320
Excuse me.

00:52:47.410 --> 00:52:49.580
l want to put
a handkerchief here,
if l may.

00:52:49.660 --> 00:52:51.500
ls that out of shot?

00:52:51.580 --> 00:52:53.330
That's fine, Mr. President.

00:52:53.420 --> 00:52:55.670
Contractually,
l think that we made

00:52:55.750 --> 00:52:59.000
an agreement that
after each question

00:52:59.090 --> 00:53:01.670
l might dab my upper lip
before answering it.

00:53:01.760 --> 00:53:04.680
Which you won't show,
you know,
when you cut it together.

00:53:04.760 --> 00:53:08.260
You're probably aware
of my history
with perspiration.

00:53:08.350 --> 00:53:11.600
lf you're
referring to your TV debate
with Jack Kennedy in 1960.

00:53:11.680 --> 00:53:16.440
They say that
moisture on my upper lip
cost me the presidency.

00:53:16.520 --> 00:53:20.650
People who heard
it on the radio,
well, they thought l'd won.

00:53:20.730 --> 00:53:23.190
But television
and the close-up,

00:53:23.280 --> 00:53:25.740
they create their
own sets of meanings.

00:53:25.820 --> 00:53:29.030
So now they insist
l bring a handkerchief

00:53:29.120 --> 00:53:31.200
and that l have
my eyebrows trimmed.

00:53:31.290 --> 00:53:33.040
Sixty seconds, everyone.

00:53:34.120 --> 00:53:36.210
You trim yours?
No.

00:53:36.290 --> 00:53:38.040
No, of course not.

00:53:38.130 --> 00:53:40.540
Yeah, you're light-skinned.
Yeah.

00:53:40.630 --> 00:53:44.470
You got blue eyes. You've got
no troubles with perspiration,
l imagine.

00:53:44.550 --> 00:53:46.510
No, not that l'm aware.

00:53:46.590 --> 00:53:49.010
You were obviously
born to be on the tube.

00:53:50.890 --> 00:53:53.310
DAVlS: Stand by
to roll tape in 30 seconds.

00:53:53.890 --> 00:53:55.480
Settling.

00:54:00.900 --> 00:54:02.820
Those shoes.

00:54:04.360 --> 00:54:06.280
They're ltalian, aren't they?

00:54:06.490 --> 00:54:08.200
My shoes? l believe so.

00:54:08.910 --> 00:54:10.950
Yeah, that's interesting.

00:54:11.870 --> 00:54:13.370
(SN lFFLES)

00:54:15.160 --> 00:54:17.370
You don't find
them too effeminate?

00:54:20.090 --> 00:54:21.540
No.

00:54:21.630 --> 00:54:23.420
Well, l guess
somebody in your field

00:54:23.510 --> 00:54:25.340
can get away
with them, you know.

00:54:25.420 --> 00:54:27.010
Manolo, just check
my collar, will you?

00:54:27.090 --> 00:54:28.760
DlRECTOR: David,
starting with camera two,

00:54:28.840 --> 00:54:35.220
in four, three, two.
Cue David. And. . .

00:54:37.480 --> 00:54:42.060
Mr. President. Now,
we're going to be
covering a lot of subjects

00:54:42.150 --> 00:54:45.530
in a great deal of detail
over the course
of these interviews,

00:54:45.610 --> 00:54:49.490
but l'd like to
begin completely
out of context

00:54:49.570 --> 00:54:51.200
by asking you
one question,

00:54:51.280 --> 00:54:54.200
more than any other,
almost every American

00:54:54.290 --> 00:54:57.450
and people all over
the world want me to ask.

00:54:59.540 --> 00:55:01.420
Why didn't you
burn the tapes?

00:55:04.630 --> 00:55:06.460
Son of a bitch !

00:55:09.260 --> 00:55:15.220
Well, Mr. Frost,
l'm surprised
by your question

00:55:15.520 --> 00:55:20.390
since we have an agreement,
a contractual agreement,
l believe,

00:55:20.480 --> 00:55:24.730
that we would cover Watergate
in our last taping session.

00:55:34.030 --> 00:55:38.500
But if your viewers
really do have
a major concern,

00:55:38.580 --> 00:55:43.630
then perhaps l should
briefly respond to it now.

00:55:43.710 --> 00:55:46.840
What probably very
few people realize

00:55:46.920 --> 00:55:49.130
is that the taping system
in the White House

00:55:49.220 --> 00:55:52.470
was set up
by my predecessor,
President Johnson,

00:55:52.550 --> 00:55:56.680
partly to avoid
the necessity of having
a secretary in every meeting,

00:55:56.770 --> 00:55:59.270
and partly
to ensure there was

00:55:59.350 --> 00:56:01.850
a record kept of
every verbal agreement,

00:56:01.940 --> 00:56:04.900
no matter how
off the cuff or casual.

00:56:05.570 --> 00:56:08.150
Now, initially, on coming
into the White House,

00:56:08.230 --> 00:56:11.030
l insisted on
dismantling the system.

00:56:11.110 --> 00:56:14.410
l hadn't liked
the idea at all,
but the former President,

00:56:14.490 --> 00:56:16.740
President Johnson,
had repeatedly said

00:56:16.830 --> 00:56:20.080
how crazy it would be
to remove the system,

00:56:20.160 --> 00:56:21.750
which he felt
was the best way. . .

00:56:21.830 --> 00:56:24.080
BRENNAN: Well, in boxing,
you know, there's always
that first moment,

00:56:24.170 --> 00:56:26.290
and you see it in
the challenger's face.

00:56:26.380 --> 00:56:28.500
lt's that moment
that he feels

00:56:28.590 --> 00:56:30.920
the impact from
the champ's first jab.

00:56:31.260 --> 00:56:35.010
lt's kind of
a sickening moment,
when he realizes that

00:56:35.100 --> 00:56:38.390
all those months
of pep talks and the hype,

00:56:38.470 --> 00:56:41.600
the psyching yourself up,
had been delusional all along.

00:56:41.680 --> 00:56:43.640
You could see it
in Frost's face.

00:56:43.730 --> 00:56:45.900
lf he didn't know
the caliber of the man

00:56:45.980 --> 00:56:48.110
that he was up against
before the interview started,

00:56:48.190 --> 00:56:50.690
he certainly knew
it halfway through
the President's first answer.

00:56:50.780 --> 00:56:53.610
N lXON : You see,
since the best advice is

00:56:53.700 --> 00:56:57.280
almost always
of the confidential variety,

00:56:57.370 --> 00:56:59.540
now the tapes have
been made public,

00:56:59.620 --> 00:57:02.080
people are unlikely
ever to feel comfortable

00:57:02.160 --> 00:57:04.750
speaking in confidence
at the White House.

00:57:04.830 --> 00:57:08.630
They're less likely
to offer that advice.
So in the end,

00:57:08.710 --> 00:57:10.920
it's the whole
political system and,

00:57:11.010 --> 00:57:13.920
by implication, it's
the country that suffers.

00:57:14.010 --> 00:57:16.050
So much for
our "ballsy" opening.

00:57:18.930 --> 00:57:22.020
So when did you
actually decide. . .

00:57:22.100 --> 00:57:25.020
At what moment did you know
you were going to resign?

00:57:25.100 --> 00:57:27.060
That's good. That's good.

00:57:28.270 --> 00:57:32.360
l remember exactly.
lt was July 23.

00:57:32.440 --> 00:57:35.280
After it was clear
the Southern Democrats

00:57:35.360 --> 00:57:36.820
that were still against
impeachment had

00:57:36.910 --> 00:57:39.990
had the screws put on them
by the Speaker of the House.

00:57:40.790 --> 00:57:47.420
That night l said to
Al Haig, "Well, that's it.
There goes the presidency."

00:57:47.830 --> 00:57:49.420
And, of course,
you know, being Al,

00:57:49.500 --> 00:57:51.040
he tried to
talk me out of it.

00:57:51.130 --> 00:57:53.880
And Vice President Ford,
l mean, let's not forget

00:57:53.970 --> 00:57:57.550
he had the most
to gain personally
from my stepping down,

00:57:57.640 --> 00:57:59.470
he was still
absolutely convinced that

00:57:59.550 --> 00:58:01.310
we were gonna win
the impeachment vote,

00:58:01.390 --> 00:58:03.140
and comfortably.
John, we have to do something.

00:58:03.220 --> 00:58:04.220
We have to move this along.

00:58:04.310 --> 00:58:05.980
This is desperate, John.
Do something.

00:58:06.060 --> 00:58:08.480
Twenty-three minutes
on one question?

00:58:08.560 --> 00:58:09.610
Okay, let's take a break.

00:58:09.690 --> 00:58:11.020
Let's change the tapes.
Come on, man.

00:58:11.110 --> 00:58:12.320
Stop tape.

00:58:13.900 --> 00:58:15.150
DlRECTOR:
l'm sorry, gentlemen.

00:58:15.240 --> 00:58:16.860
We have to take a break.
Tape change.

00:58:16.950 --> 00:58:19.740
Oh. Okay, how's that?
You getting what you need?

00:58:19.820 --> 00:58:21.070
lt's fantastic.

00:58:21.160 --> 00:58:22.740
Good. Good. Thank you.

00:58:24.330 --> 00:58:25.500
Excuse me. One moment, sir.

00:58:25.580 --> 00:58:27.660
N lXON : Yeah, sure.
Take your time.

00:58:28.040 --> 00:58:30.000
What are you doing, David?
You've got to
stop him rambling.

00:58:30.080 --> 00:58:32.250
lt's all right.
These are just
introductory exchanges.

00:58:32.340 --> 00:58:33.800
But this session
only lasts two hours.

00:58:33.880 --> 00:58:36.550
Nearly half of it's gone,
and we're wasting
valuable material, okay?

00:58:36.630 --> 00:58:38.880
The moment that he made
the decision to resign,

00:58:38.970 --> 00:58:40.260
we should be scoring
points with that stuff.

00:58:40.350 --> 00:58:41.510
Want me to switch to Vietnam?

00:58:41.600 --> 00:58:43.060
No. No.
We've got to
get something

00:58:43.140 --> 00:58:44.850
out of that
resignation night.
All right?

00:58:44.930 --> 00:58:48.520
That was Nixon at
his lowest point,
a total wreck. On his knees?

00:58:48.600 --> 00:58:51.060
Praying with Kissinger?
Come on, you can nail
him with that stuff.

00:58:51.150 --> 00:58:52.520
Listen, was that okay?

00:58:52.610 --> 00:58:53.860
Perfect, sir.

00:58:53.940 --> 00:58:56.610
lt didn't sound too
arrogant or self-serving?

00:58:56.690 --> 00:59:00.200
Not at all.
You sounded controlled,
even-handed, statesmanlike.

00:59:00.280 --> 00:59:01.450
Good.

00:59:01.530 --> 00:59:02.700
Now continue
exactly the same way.

00:59:02.780 --> 00:59:04.660
Long answers.
Control the space.

00:59:04.740 --> 00:59:05.700
Don't let him in.

00:59:05.790 --> 00:59:07.080
Okay, got you.

00:59:10.290 --> 00:59:12.330
DAVlS: Set. And roll.

00:59:17.170 --> 00:59:22.260
We're coming
back on camera three
in four, three, two and. . .

00:59:24.680 --> 00:59:28.730
Reading the account
of those extraordinary
final days,

00:59:28.810 --> 00:59:31.270
it seems your most
emotional moment came

00:59:31.350 --> 00:59:34.690
in that
heart-to-heart you had
with Henry Kissinger.

00:59:34.770 --> 00:59:38.400
Was that perhaps
the most emotional moment
of your career?

00:59:38.860 --> 00:59:40.490
RESTON : Good, good.
N lXON: Yes.

00:59:41.200 --> 00:59:46.490
l would say it was
about as emotional
a moment as l've ever had.

00:59:48.660 --> 00:59:50.790
Except, well,
you know,
it's hard to say

00:59:50.870 --> 00:59:52.960
what is the most
emotional moment,

00:59:53.040 --> 00:59:55.670
because each is different.

00:59:56.090 --> 00:59:59.170
l remember the day
Eisenhower died.

00:59:59.260 --> 01:00:00.550
For God's sake.

01:00:00.630 --> 01:00:04.890
And the day l walked
my eldest daughter
Tricia down the aisle.

01:00:04.970 --> 01:00:07.640
And the day during
the impeachment hearings

01:00:07.720 --> 01:00:11.350
when Julie,
that's my youngest,
she came into my office,

01:00:11.440 --> 01:00:15.940
she threw her arms around me,
she kissed me.
She cried, you know?

01:00:16.020 --> 01:00:18.900
And she so seldom cries.

01:00:19.110 --> 01:00:21.450
She said, "Daddy, you're
the finest man l know."

01:00:21.530 --> 01:00:23.530
"Daddy, you're
the finest man l know"?

01:00:23.990 --> 01:00:27.490
"And whatever you do,
l will support you.

01:00:28.540 --> 01:00:32.870
"You just gotta
go through the fire,
you know, a little longer."

01:00:35.250 --> 01:00:37.000
This is beautiful.

01:00:37.090 --> 01:00:40.260
So Kissinger and l were
in the Lincoln Sitting Room,

01:00:40.340 --> 01:00:43.300
and together we began
to reminisce

01:00:43.380 --> 01:00:47.220
about some of
the great decisions that
we'd participated in.

01:00:47.310 --> 01:00:50.470
There was China,
the Soviet Union,

01:00:50.560 --> 01:00:53.100
the peace settlement
in Vietnam.

01:00:53.190 --> 01:00:57.190
Now, let me
tell you something that
l never told anybody.

01:00:57.270 --> 01:01:01.740
Whenever l have had
a really tough
decision to make. . .

01:01:02.070 --> 01:01:04.820
Now, we were in
the Lincoln Sitting Room
at that time.

01:01:04.910 --> 01:01:08.580
l have come into this room
for the purpose of praying.

01:01:09.620 --> 01:01:13.500
"Now, Henry,
l'm a Quaker.
You're a Jew.

01:01:13.580 --> 01:01:15.500
"Neither of us is
particularly orthodox,

01:01:15.580 --> 01:01:18.630
"but l'd like to think
that each of us
in our own way

01:01:18.710 --> 01:01:21.670
"has a deep
religious sensitivity.

01:01:21.760 --> 01:01:26.840
"So if you don't mind,
could we just have a moment
of silent prayer?"

01:01:26.930 --> 01:01:31.180
So we knelt down.
Now, this was in front
of that table where

01:01:31.270 --> 01:01:35.390
Lincoln signed
the Emancipation
Proclamation.

01:01:35.480 --> 01:01:38.940
And then after a few moments,
we both got up again,
and Henry says. . .

01:01:39.020 --> 01:01:40.610
ls there. . . l'm sorry.

01:01:40.730 --> 01:01:41.860
ls there a problem?

01:01:41.940 --> 01:01:42.980
That's time.

01:01:43.570 --> 01:01:45.700
We're over two hours.

01:01:45.780 --> 01:01:47.860
Really? So soon?

01:01:48.570 --> 01:01:51.540
Well, Mr. President,
l gather our time is up.

01:01:51.740 --> 01:01:53.540
Gee, now, that's a pity.

01:01:53.620 --> 01:01:56.120
You know,
l was beginning
to enjoy that.

01:02:00.090 --> 01:02:02.420
That was terrific,
both of you.

01:02:02.510 --> 01:02:03.880
We're getting some
great material.

01:02:03.970 --> 01:02:05.300
You know,
it's so funny, too,

01:02:05.380 --> 01:02:08.800
because l was expecting
questions on Vietnam.

01:02:08.890 --> 01:02:11.390
And we prepared for that,
hadn't we, Jack?

01:02:11.470 --> 01:02:12.850
Yes, so did l.

01:02:12.930 --> 01:02:16.060
l guess we
just got caught up,
you know, reminiscing.

01:02:16.140 --> 01:02:17.140
lndeed.

01:02:17.230 --> 01:02:19.480
So, day after tomorrow,
10:00, right?

01:02:19.560 --> 01:02:20.650
Yes, indeed.

01:02:20.730 --> 01:02:22.440
l look forward to it.
Bye-bye.

01:02:29.910 --> 01:02:31.990
There's no need
to say anything.

01:02:38.540 --> 01:02:40.670
REPORTER 1: Mr. President!
REPORTER 2: Mr. President!

01:02:40.920 --> 01:02:42.880
(REPORTERS CLAMORlNG)

01:02:43.760 --> 01:02:45.010
REPORTER 3: Mr. President!

01:02:45.090 --> 01:02:46.420
REPORTER 4:
Mr. President, please!

01:02:47.430 --> 01:02:48.630
(WH lSPERlNG)
What are you
gonna tell him?

01:02:48.720 --> 01:02:50.430
l'm gonna tell him
he's gotta get involved.

01:02:50.510 --> 01:02:52.300
He's gotta be able
to shut him up.
Shh.

01:02:52.390 --> 01:02:55.430
David, we have some
fundamental problems in
our approach that l think. . .

01:02:55.520 --> 01:02:56.890
Don't worry, Bob.
l'm on it.

01:02:56.980 --> 01:02:57.980
We can use some of
the Kissinger stuff.

01:02:58.060 --> 01:02:59.770
Yeah, but we need
to discuss it sooner
rather than later. . .

01:02:59.850 --> 01:03:01.230
Look,
l'm disappointed, too.

01:03:01.310 --> 01:03:04.020
But l wonder,
could we possibly spare
the post-mortem for now?

01:03:04.110 --> 01:03:06.150
l don't mean to minimize it.
lt's just l've got to
get back to LA

01:03:06.240 --> 01:03:07.610
to meet some people
from Weed Eater.

01:03:07.700 --> 01:03:09.530
Thanks, everyone!
Great work!

01:03:09.610 --> 01:03:11.780
Marv, Lloyd, great day.
Bye, David.

01:03:11.870 --> 01:03:14.740
l'll see you soon.
God bless!

01:03:17.790 --> 01:03:20.210
What the hell
is Weed Eater?

01:03:20.500 --> 01:03:22.710
lt's a horticultural
mechanism.

01:03:22.790 --> 01:03:23.790
One of our sponsors.

01:03:23.880 --> 01:03:25.250
What happened to Xerox?

01:03:25.340 --> 01:03:27.590
What about
General Motors
or lBM?

01:03:27.670 --> 01:03:30.720
l gather that not all of
the blue-chip accounts
came through.

01:03:30.800 --> 01:03:32.970
We do have Alpo.

01:03:33.050 --> 01:03:34.470
Dog food?

01:03:34.560 --> 01:03:36.890
(STUTTERlNG) Wait, John.
We're already taping.

01:03:37.390 --> 01:03:39.100
So we're close, right?
We're very close?

01:03:39.190 --> 01:03:40.600
That's probably a question
you should ask David.

01:03:40.690 --> 01:03:42.560
Are we close, John?

01:03:45.440 --> 01:03:47.570
l believe we're at 30%.

01:03:48.320 --> 01:03:49.820
To go? Or 30% sold?

01:03:49.900 --> 01:03:52.570
Again, that's probably
a question you should. . .

01:03:53.660 --> 01:03:55.240
Sold, 30% sold.

01:03:55.950 --> 01:03:57.490
Jesus. . .

01:03:57.620 --> 01:03:59.160
l thought
we were practically
fully financed.

01:03:59.250 --> 01:04:02.370
We were. But the financing
was always conditional
on advertising sales,

01:04:02.460 --> 01:04:04.170
and no one predicted
that they'd fall apart
like this.

01:04:04.250 --> 01:04:06.130
Well, why have
they fallen apart?
Based on what?

01:04:06.210 --> 01:04:09.010
Credibility of the project.
What else are advertising
sales based on?

01:04:09.090 --> 01:04:11.220
Listen,
l understand your concern.

01:04:11.300 --> 01:04:14.510
But could l ask you
to go a little easier on David
over the next couple of days,

01:04:14.600 --> 01:04:17.010
bearing in mind
the extraordinary pressure
that he's under?

01:04:17.100 --> 01:04:20.600
'Cause at the moment,
he's effectively paying
for all this himself.

01:04:20.690 --> 01:04:24.350
So he's in it
for a lot more than
just his reputation.

01:04:24.690 --> 01:04:25.980
And we're not?

01:04:33.070 --> 01:04:36.660
FROST: You seemed
very confident last time.

01:04:36.740 --> 01:04:39.660
l don't understand.
Why this sudden
change of heart?

01:04:39.750 --> 01:04:42.290
All right,
this is just madness.
lt's Richard Nixon.

01:04:42.370 --> 01:04:46.590
These interviews
will do mid-30s
audience share, minimum.

01:04:46.670 --> 01:04:53.300
Jimmy! Yes.
Yes, back again, like
the proverbial bad penny.

01:04:53.380 --> 01:04:54.930
Look, l hate to do
this to a friend,

01:04:55.010 --> 01:04:58.220
and l know you're already in
for more than l asked for,

01:04:58.310 --> 01:05:01.770
but l need you to dig
a little deeper.

01:05:03.310 --> 01:05:05.480
l'm right up against it now.

01:05:09.030 --> 01:05:12.240
So, l had
a chance to review
yesterday's tapes.

01:05:12.320 --> 01:05:13.530
And?

01:05:13.610 --> 01:05:17.620
Honestly?
Far too soft, David.

01:05:17.700 --> 01:05:19.780
Go on. Beat me, John.
Beat me with a stick.

01:05:19.870 --> 01:05:22.870
Look. No, l'm serious.

01:05:22.960 --> 01:05:25.330
You have got to make it
more uncomfortable for him.

01:05:25.420 --> 01:05:28.130
You can start by
sitting forward.
You've gotta attack more.

01:05:28.210 --> 01:05:29.790
lf he starts
tailing off, bang,

01:05:29.880 --> 01:05:31.250
jump in with
another question.

01:05:31.340 --> 01:05:33.380
Don't trade
generalizations.

01:05:33.470 --> 01:05:34.470
Be specific.

01:05:34.550 --> 01:05:37.640
And above all, don't let
him give these self-serving,
23-minute homilies.

01:05:37.720 --> 01:05:38.760
Right.
And keep your distance

01:05:38.850 --> 01:05:40.100
before the tape
starts running.

01:05:40.180 --> 01:05:41.430
He was toying
with you yesterday.

01:05:41.520 --> 01:05:43.770
All that shit about Ben-Hur
and struggling to raise
the money.

01:05:43.850 --> 01:05:47.940
Those are mind games.
Don't engage.

01:05:48.020 --> 01:05:51.480
Never forget,
you are in there
with a major operator.

01:05:52.690 --> 01:05:54.110
Got it.

01:05:59.330 --> 01:06:00.700
(N lXON CLEARS TH ROAT)

01:06:01.370 --> 01:06:02.410
Ah.

01:06:03.250 --> 01:06:05.210
The Grand lnquisitor!

01:06:06.370 --> 01:06:08.790
No, just your friendly
neighborhood confidant.

01:06:09.880 --> 01:06:11.040
(GLASS SMASH lNG)

01:06:13.670 --> 01:06:15.760
lt's okay.
We just blew a bulb.

01:06:16.550 --> 01:06:19.010
N lXON : This is why l got
all these Secret Service
guys around.

01:06:19.100 --> 01:06:20.470
There's nothing
to worry about.

01:06:20.550 --> 01:06:23.890
As a president,
you get used to
this kind of stuff.

01:06:24.060 --> 01:06:27.560
DAVlS: Ed, we gotta
get in here and change
out this 750, ASAP.

01:06:33.030 --> 01:06:34.690
(WH lSPERlNG)
Focus, sir.
Yeah.

01:06:37.240 --> 01:06:40.910
Okay, we are back.
Okay, take it
on my count.

01:06:41.740 --> 01:06:44.660
Okay, stand by
to roll tape.
30 seconds.

01:06:44.950 --> 01:06:46.160
DAVlS: Settling.

01:06:46.250 --> 01:06:47.910
You have a pleasant
evening last night?

01:06:48.000 --> 01:06:49.580
Yes, thank you.

01:06:57.760 --> 01:07:00.050
Did you do
any fornicating?

01:07:00.300 --> 01:07:03.350
David, we're starting
with camera two in four,

01:07:03.430 --> 01:07:04.390
(CLEARS TH ROAT)

01:07:04.470 --> 01:07:06.680
three, two and. . .

01:07:11.270 --> 01:07:14.520
Mr. President,
you came to office
promising peace,

01:07:14.610 --> 01:07:16.570
but no sooner
did you get into
the White House

01:07:16.650 --> 01:07:21.070
than US involvement
in Vietnam deepened
and the war was prolonged

01:07:21.160 --> 01:07:22.740
with calamitous
consequences.

01:07:22.830 --> 01:07:26.290
Did you feel that you'd
betrayed the people
that had elected you?

01:07:26.370 --> 01:07:30.120
Well, Vietnam
was not my war.

01:07:30.210 --> 01:07:31.880
lt was my inheritance.

01:07:31.960 --> 01:07:33.790
And it looked to me...
Jump in.

01:07:33.880 --> 01:07:36.880
. . .as if the reason
for our being there

01:07:36.960 --> 01:07:41.680
had perhaps not been
adequately understood
by the American people.

01:07:42.090 --> 01:07:44.100
lt seemed to me
they hadn't realized

01:07:44.180 --> 01:07:49.390
how important
a test this was
of American credibility.

01:07:50.100 --> 01:07:52.100
The whole world
was watching to see

01:07:52.190 --> 01:07:55.230
if we have the character
to see it through.

01:07:55.320 --> 01:07:58.070
Now, look,
l could have bugged out.
l could have.

01:07:58.150 --> 01:08:00.780
l could have blamed it
on my predecessors.

01:08:00.860 --> 01:08:03.360
l could have
pulled the troops
out of Vietnam early,

01:08:03.450 --> 01:08:05.740
and very possibly,
l would have won

01:08:05.830 --> 01:08:09.080
some Scandinavian peace prize
into the bargain.

01:08:09.160 --> 01:08:10.790
But l believed
in the cause.

01:08:10.870 --> 01:08:16.210
And sometimes, you know,
what you believe in,
it's the harder path.

01:08:16.300 --> 01:08:21.090
You might even say that
l was the last casualty
of the Vietnam War.

01:08:21.180 --> 01:08:23.970
Yeah, tell that
to the paraplegics.

01:08:24.050 --> 01:08:25.390
Come on, David,
Cambodia.

01:08:25.470 --> 01:08:28.600
And Cambodia?
An invasion which everybody
advised you against.

01:08:28.680 --> 01:08:31.730
All the ClA
and Pentagon intelligence
suggested it would fail.

01:08:31.810 --> 01:08:32.890
So why did you do it?

01:08:32.980 --> 01:08:34.020
Well, first of all,

01:08:34.110 --> 01:08:40.530
as a result of
our incursion into Cambodia,
we picked up 22,000 rifles,

01:08:40.610 --> 01:08:45.120
15 million rounds
of ammunition,
150,000 rockets, mortars.

01:08:45.200 --> 01:08:47.410
That's all belonging
to the North Vietnamese,

01:08:47.490 --> 01:08:50.500
which would only otherwise
have been directed

01:08:50.580 --> 01:08:52.710
right onto
American soldiers.

01:08:52.790 --> 01:08:56.040
But one of
the principal justifications
you gave for the incursion

01:08:56.130 --> 01:08:57.790
was the supposed
existence of

01:08:57.880 --> 01:09:02.760
the "headquarters of
the entire Communist military
operation in South Vietnam,"

01:09:02.840 --> 01:09:06.590
a sort of "bamboo Pentagon"
which proved
not to exist at all.

01:09:06.680 --> 01:09:08.300
No, no. Wait a minute
there. No, l was. . .
And by sending. . .

01:09:08.390 --> 01:09:11.640
And by sending B-52s
to carpet bomb a country,

01:09:11.730 --> 01:09:14.270
wiping out
whole civilian areas,

01:09:14.350 --> 01:09:17.360
you end up radicalizing
a once moderate people,

01:09:17.440 --> 01:09:20.070
uniting them in
anti-American sentiment

01:09:20.190 --> 01:09:22.780
and creating a monster
in the Khmer Rouge

01:09:22.860 --> 01:09:24.150
that would lead
to civil war...

01:09:24.240 --> 01:09:25.910
All right!
...and genocide.

01:09:26.070 --> 01:09:27.490
Yes, good, good, good.
There it is.

01:09:27.580 --> 01:09:28.740
Okay, run VT.

01:09:28.830 --> 01:09:29.830
Roll tape.

01:10:26.470 --> 01:10:27.680
Well, sir,
l'm sure you'd agree,

01:10:27.760 --> 01:10:29.800
some pretty
stirring images there.

01:10:29.890 --> 01:10:35.640
Look, it was never US policy
to kill civilians.
That's the enemy's way.

01:10:35.730 --> 01:10:36.730
Well, l'm not suggesting. . .

01:10:36.810 --> 01:10:37.850
And if you're
asking the question

01:10:37.940 --> 01:10:42.020
do l regret the casualties
on both sides in the war,
yeah, sure, of course l do.

01:10:42.110 --> 01:10:44.150
Let me tell you something.
lt can just wear you down.

01:10:44.240 --> 01:10:46.150
Well, all right, sir,
when you are faced
with someone who. . .

01:10:46.240 --> 01:10:48.280
But whenever
l have had my doubts,

01:10:48.360 --> 01:10:50.490
l remembered
the construction worker
in Philadelphia,

01:10:50.570 --> 01:10:51.780
because he came up to me

01:10:51.870 --> 01:10:55.410
and he said, "Sir,
l got only one criticism
of that Cambodia thing.

01:10:55.500 --> 01:10:57.250
"lf you'd gone in earlier,

01:10:57.330 --> 01:10:59.080
"you might have
captured the gun

01:10:59.170 --> 01:11:01.170
"that killed my boy
three months ago."

01:11:01.250 --> 01:11:04.250
So you're asking me,
do l regret
going into Cambodia?

01:11:04.340 --> 01:11:06.590
No! l don't.
You know what?

01:11:06.670 --> 01:11:09.720
l wish l'd gone in
sooner and harder.

01:11:09.800 --> 01:11:10.840
SAWYER: Got him.
Safe!

01:11:17.350 --> 01:11:22.190
lt was horrifying.
lt was horrifying.
And he was so confident.

01:11:22.360 --> 01:11:24.440
(REPORTERS CLAMORlNG)

01:11:25.190 --> 01:11:27.650
REPORTER:
What are you gonna say
about Watergate?

01:11:27.990 --> 01:11:31.280
Sorry, boys,
just all talked out,
you know?

01:11:38.040 --> 01:11:39.410
Better?

01:11:43.040 --> 01:11:45.130
lt was.
Unquestionably better.

01:11:50.550 --> 01:11:51.800
What's next?

01:11:52.430 --> 01:11:53.680
Foreign policy.

01:11:56.220 --> 01:12:01.270
Great. Russia, China,
the big power stuff.

01:12:01.350 --> 01:12:03.650
Yeah, so?

01:12:03.730 --> 01:12:05.480
So if he beats him up
like that on Vietnam,

01:12:05.570 --> 01:12:08.440
imagine what he's gonna do
with his real achievements.

01:12:08.530 --> 01:12:09.820
(RESTON LAUGHS)

01:12:11.070 --> 01:12:13.410
lt ain't gonna be pretty.

01:12:13.490 --> 01:12:16.200
The answer was
grow by six inches.

01:12:16.290 --> 01:12:19.160
lt was agony to watch.

01:12:19.250 --> 01:12:22.830
Now, that's when
Khrushchev called me,
begging me to intervene.

01:12:22.920 --> 01:12:24.960
You see, he and Mao
didn't get along,

01:12:25.040 --> 01:12:27.340
and Khrushchev
knew that the Chairman

01:12:27.420 --> 01:12:29.420
would talk to me,
no one else.

01:12:29.510 --> 01:12:34.260
You see, l was the only one
that Mao would trust
personally, man-to-man.

01:12:34.350 --> 01:12:36.850
When David tried to
lay a finger on him,

01:12:36.930 --> 01:12:39.310
Nixon made mincemeat
out of him.

01:12:40.270 --> 01:12:41.980
ZELN lCK:
What "revolution," David?

01:12:42.060 --> 01:12:43.850
You just let
Richard Nixon claim

01:12:43.940 --> 01:12:46.150
the country was in
a state of revolution?

01:12:46.230 --> 01:12:49.480
What, with protestors
"bombing" and "assaulting"
police officers?

01:12:49.570 --> 01:12:50.780
That's not how
l remember it.

01:12:50.860 --> 01:12:53.780
What l remember
is people protesting
peacefully and legitimately

01:12:53.860 --> 01:12:55.030
against the Vietnam War!

01:12:55.120 --> 01:12:56.660
That's what l remember.
Music off, please. Off.

01:12:56.740 --> 01:12:59.410
By the end, wiretapping
students and breaking
into journalists' homes

01:12:59.500 --> 01:13:01.700
was beginning to sound
like a rational response.

01:13:01.790 --> 01:13:03.160
Well, l'm sorry
you feel this way,

01:13:03.250 --> 01:13:05.330
but l simply cannot
share your view.

01:13:05.420 --> 01:13:06.500
About what exactly?

01:13:06.590 --> 01:13:07.920
About any of it, frankly!

01:13:08.000 --> 01:13:10.630
l thought today was
a huge improvement.

01:13:10.710 --> 01:13:11.710
Are you nuts?

01:13:11.800 --> 01:13:13.800
Let me tell you how
bad things were today.

01:13:13.880 --> 01:13:16.890
After the taping finished,
l overheard two members
of the crew say

01:13:16.970 --> 01:13:19.350
they never voted for him
when they had the chance,

01:13:19.430 --> 01:13:22.810
but if he ran
for office again today,
he'd get their support.

01:13:22.890 --> 01:13:25.600
You're making him
look presidential,
for Christ's sake!

01:13:25.690 --> 01:13:28.230
And forget about
the trivia, David.

01:13:28.320 --> 01:13:31.150
Who cares whether Nixon
took the White House bed
to Europe

01:13:31.240 --> 01:13:33.070
when he traveled?
l do!

01:13:33.150 --> 01:13:34.780
Well, it's irrelevant!

01:13:34.860 --> 01:13:38.570
And it's just
the sort of banal anecdote
that would distract a talk. . .

01:13:39.910 --> 01:13:41.160
A what?

01:13:44.120 --> 01:13:46.000
Go on. No, say it.

01:13:46.080 --> 01:13:48.580
What, you were gonna
say "talk show host"?

01:13:49.920 --> 01:13:52.340
Yeah. Yeah, l was.

01:14:00.180 --> 01:14:04.480
All right, look,
it's useless me trying
to answer your points.

01:14:04.690 --> 01:14:08.600
Frankly, l don't share
any of your sense of
pessimism or alarm.

01:14:10.400 --> 01:14:13.440
And this ridiculous
self-flagellation,

01:14:13.530 --> 01:14:16.030
in my view,
is just depressing.

01:14:17.110 --> 01:14:18.200
No!

01:14:20.080 --> 01:14:24.540
And threatening to derail
the whole enterprise.

01:14:26.210 --> 01:14:31.340
Look. lf there is
anyone here who thinks
we're gonna fail,

01:14:32.300 --> 01:14:34.340
they better leave now,

01:14:35.380 --> 01:14:37.630
or it'll infect
everyone else.

01:14:44.680 --> 01:14:46.020
No one?

01:14:49.440 --> 01:14:50.860
Right.

01:14:52.230 --> 01:14:53.360
Good.

01:14:55.820 --> 01:14:59.610
Now, l suggest instead of
festering around the hotel
for the next five days,

01:14:59.700 --> 01:15:02.660
we all go
our separate ways
over Easter.

01:15:04.370 --> 01:15:06.830
But before we go,
Caroline and l
would like you

01:15:06.910 --> 01:15:09.330
to join us for a little
celebratory dinner

01:15:09.420 --> 01:15:12.460
at Patrick Terrail's
new place.

01:15:12.540 --> 01:15:15.300
Celebrate?
Celebrate what, David?

01:15:15.380 --> 01:15:17.130
The fact that we're
all gonna be working
at Burger King?

01:15:17.220 --> 01:15:20.430
What are we celebrating?
lt's my birthday, Bob!

01:15:25.100 --> 01:15:30.440
l'd like to
celebrate my birthday
with a few friends.

01:15:36.940 --> 01:15:38.900
(PlANO PLAYlNG U PBEAT TU N E)

01:15:42.370 --> 01:15:43.620
Look, is that
Neil Diamond?

01:15:43.700 --> 01:15:45.580
(SINGING) Frost and Nixon,
Frost and Nixon

01:15:45.660 --> 01:15:46.990
And is that Sammy Cahn?

01:15:47.080 --> 01:15:48.200
Go together Iike
Prancer and Vixen

01:15:48.290 --> 01:15:49.620
David,
did you hear that?

01:15:49.710 --> 01:15:51.420
Soaring through the airwaves

01:15:51.500 --> 01:15:53.790
Jesus, that's Hugh Hefner.

01:15:53.880 --> 01:15:54.880
Oh, my God.

01:15:54.960 --> 01:15:56.210
Hoping for several
hefty paydays

01:15:56.300 --> 01:15:57.710
Yeah, l think it is.
With Michael York.

01:15:57.800 --> 01:15:59.050
That's gotta be Bunnies.

01:15:59.130 --> 01:16:00.760
Those are Bunnies?
Those are real Bunnies?

01:16:00.840 --> 01:16:02.220
Frost and Nixon,
Frost and Nixon

01:16:02.300 --> 01:16:03.430
Go together
like Mason and Dixon

01:16:03.510 --> 01:16:07.010
David, just putting it
all together it's the most
extraordinary accomplishment.

01:16:07.100 --> 01:16:08.640
Frost lines up with Dicky...

01:16:08.730 --> 01:16:09.930
No one else
could have done that.

01:16:10.020 --> 01:16:12.730
And these interviews
are always gonna be around
for future generations

01:16:12.810 --> 01:16:15.110
of academics and
political historians.

01:16:15.190 --> 01:16:16.190
That bad?

01:16:16.280 --> 01:16:17.980
He saved it

01:16:18.070 --> 01:16:21.200
He wrote a book
Now here's the hook

01:16:21.280 --> 01:16:22.780
David !

01:16:22.860 --> 01:16:23.910
Patrick.

01:16:23.990 --> 01:16:26.950
He's not a crook
He's paid by David

01:16:27.490 --> 01:16:29.040
(GU ESTS APPLAU DlNG)

01:16:31.580 --> 01:16:33.710
(PLAYlNG CLASSlCAL MUSlC)

01:17:09.200 --> 01:17:13.620
My, what
a festive atmosphere.
Please, don't get up.

01:17:13.710 --> 01:17:17.290
l take it from this
that the interviews
have gone well?

01:17:17.380 --> 01:17:19.050
Better than that, ma'am.
lt's a shutout.

01:17:19.130 --> 01:17:21.300
The President's sitting
on an 11 - 0 lead.

01:17:21.380 --> 01:17:23.420
Really? Well.
Yeah.

01:17:23.510 --> 01:17:25.720
Well, that is
most gratifying.

01:17:30.060 --> 01:17:33.230
l'm so glad it's all
gone according to plan.

01:17:48.490 --> 01:17:49.780
(SlGHS) l see.

01:17:51.450 --> 01:17:53.500
ls there nothing
we can do?

01:17:55.120 --> 01:17:56.290
Really?

01:17:58.500 --> 01:18:01.630
(SlGH lNG) Right. Well, thanks
for letting me know.

01:18:08.720 --> 01:18:11.680
lt's true.
They've dropped
the Australian show.

01:18:11.770 --> 01:18:14.060
Oh, no, David.

01:18:14.140 --> 01:18:17.940
They felt that l needed
to reevaluate my priorities.

01:18:20.270 --> 01:18:23.360
Now my producer's worried
that the London show
will follow.

01:18:26.610 --> 01:18:27.950
l'm in this
for everything l've got,

01:18:28.030 --> 01:18:31.740
and there's still
no guarantee it'll ever
see the light of day.

01:18:33.830 --> 01:18:38.370
What have l done?
What was l thinking?
Why didn't anyone stop me?

01:18:38.460 --> 01:18:40.080
They should have
physically stopped me!

01:18:40.170 --> 01:18:41.790
No, no, no. Shh.

01:18:49.300 --> 01:18:53.180
Look, we don't have
to go out tonight.
Why don't we stay in?

01:18:55.270 --> 01:18:56.350
Hmm?

01:19:00.650 --> 01:19:04.070
l'll go down to Trader Vic's
and bring something back.

01:19:05.780 --> 01:19:07.360
Steak or fish?

01:19:08.860 --> 01:19:10.200
David?

01:19:14.450 --> 01:19:17.040
Don't worry. l'll call
from the restaurant.

01:19:22.210 --> 01:19:23.210
(DOOR CLOSES)

01:19:48.700 --> 01:19:51.280
(TELEPHON E RlNGlNG)

01:20:02.130 --> 01:20:06.170
l'll have a cheeseburger.

01:20:06.590 --> 01:20:10.840
N IXON: Mmm. That sounds good.
l used to love cheeseburgers,

01:20:11.890 --> 01:20:14.050
but Dr. Lundgren
made me give them up.

01:20:14.140 --> 01:20:17.680
He switched me
to cottage cheese
and pineapple instead.

01:20:18.730 --> 01:20:21.060
He calls them
my Hawaiian burgers,

01:20:21.650 --> 01:20:23.520
but they don't taste
like burgers at all.

01:20:23.610 --> 01:20:25.770
They taste Iike Styrofoam.

01:20:29.570 --> 01:20:31.450
l hope l'm not disturbing.

01:20:32.280 --> 01:20:33.660
No.

01:20:33.740 --> 01:20:35.370
lt's a Friday night.

01:20:35.450 --> 01:20:40.000
You've probably
got somebody there
whom you're entertaining.

01:20:41.410 --> 01:20:42.670
No.

01:20:42.790 --> 01:20:44.500
Well, then
what are you doing?

01:20:45.250 --> 01:20:47.210
A handsome
young fellow,

01:20:47.750 --> 01:20:52.800
an eligible young bachelor
alone on a Friday night.

01:20:54.470 --> 01:20:59.930
lf you must know,
l'm preparing
for our final session.

01:21:00.810 --> 01:21:02.980
The all-important
final session.

01:21:03.060 --> 01:21:05.190
Yes.
Watergate.

01:21:06.230 --> 01:21:09.400
'Cause I guess
the way you handle
Watergate's gonna determine

01:21:09.480 --> 01:21:12.780
whether these interviews
are a success or a failure.

01:21:15.070 --> 01:21:16.910
Should l be nervous?

01:21:18.700 --> 01:21:22.790
Well, l'm gonna
give it my best shot.

01:21:23.160 --> 01:21:28.170
Quite right.
No holds barred.
No holds barred.

01:21:29.050 --> 01:21:30.960
You know, it's strange.

01:21:31.800 --> 01:21:35.300
Now, we have sat in chairs
opposite one another,

01:21:35.390 --> 01:21:38.640
talking for hours,
it seems, days on end,

01:21:38.720 --> 01:21:41.930
and yet l've hardly
gotten to know you.

01:21:42.980 --> 01:21:46.060
One of my people,
as part of the preparation

01:21:46.150 --> 01:21:48.810
for this interview,
she did a profile on you.

01:21:49.360 --> 01:21:53.400
And l'm sorry to say
that l just got around
to reading it tonight.

01:21:56.320 --> 01:21:59.120
There's some
interesting stuff
in there.

01:21:59.200 --> 01:22:02.290
Your Methodist background,
the modest circumstances,

01:22:02.370 --> 01:22:08.710
and then you're off
to a grand university
full of richer, posher types.

01:22:08.790 --> 01:22:11.300
What was it? Oxford?

01:22:12.630 --> 01:22:14.130
Cambridge.

01:22:15.090 --> 01:22:19.260
Did the snobs there
look down on you, too?

01:22:19.510 --> 01:22:20.550
(CH UCKLES)

01:22:20.640 --> 01:22:25.180
Of course they did.
That's our tragedy,
isn't it, Mr. Frost?

01:22:26.020 --> 01:22:31.270
No matter how high we get,
they still look down at us.

01:22:32.360 --> 01:22:34.320
l really don't know
what you're talking about.

01:22:34.400 --> 01:22:36.070
Yes, you do.

01:22:36.610 --> 01:22:40.490
Now, come on.
No matter how many awards

01:22:40.580 --> 01:22:43.790
or column inches
are written about you

01:22:43.870 --> 01:22:48.460
or how high
the elected office is for me,
it's still not enough.

01:22:49.330 --> 01:22:51.590
We still feel
like the little man,

01:22:51.670 --> 01:22:56.420
the loser they told us
we were a hundred times.

01:22:57.090 --> 01:23:01.800
The smart-asses at college,
the high-ups, the well-born,

01:23:02.680 --> 01:23:07.140
the people whose
respect we really wanted,
really craved.

01:23:07.560 --> 01:23:13.690
And isn't that
why we work so hard now,
why we fight for every inch,

01:23:13.780 --> 01:23:17.440
scrambling our way up
in undignified fashion?

01:23:17.530 --> 01:23:22.620
lf we're honest for a minute,
if we reflect privately
just for a moment,

01:23:22.700 --> 01:23:29.670
if we allow ourselves
a glimpse into that shadowy
place we call our soul,

01:23:29.830 --> 01:23:34.590
isn't that why
we're here now?
The two of us?

01:23:34.840 --> 01:23:38.420
Looking for a way
back into the sun,

01:23:38.930 --> 01:23:43.260
into the limelight,
back onto the winner's podium.

01:23:43.350 --> 01:23:46.890
Because we could feel
it slipping away.

01:23:46.980 --> 01:23:49.940
We were headed,
both of us, for the dirt!

01:23:50.020 --> 01:23:54.480
A place the snobs
always told us
that we'd end up.

01:23:54.570 --> 01:23:55.690
Face in the dust.

01:23:55.780 --> 01:23:59.860
Humiliated all the more
for having tried
so pitifully hard.

01:23:59.950 --> 01:24:02.360
Well, to hell with that!

01:24:02.450 --> 01:24:04.660
We're not gonna
let that happen,
either of us.

01:24:04.740 --> 01:24:06.410
We're gonna
show those bums.

01:24:06.490 --> 01:24:10.040
We're gonna make them choke
on our continued success,

01:24:10.120 --> 01:24:15.750
our continued headlines,
our continued awards
and power and glory!

01:24:15.840 --> 01:24:19.880
We are gonna make
those motherfuckers choke!

01:24:31.140 --> 01:24:32.480
Am l right?

01:24:33.860 --> 01:24:37.650
You are.
Except only one of us can win.

01:24:38.820 --> 01:24:39.820
Yes.

01:24:42.700 --> 01:24:48.040
And l shall be
your fiercest adversary.

01:24:48.620 --> 01:24:52.710
l shall come at you
with everything l got,

01:24:53.670 --> 01:25:00.260
because the limelight
can only shine on one of us.

01:25:01.840 --> 01:25:06.180
And for the other,
it'll be the wilderness,

01:25:08.010 --> 01:25:13.230
with nothing and no one
for company

01:25:14.940 --> 01:25:18.520
but those voices
ringing in our head.

01:25:33.290 --> 01:25:38.250
You can probably tell
l've had a drink.

01:25:40.130 --> 01:25:42.510
lt's not too many.
Just one or two.

01:25:43.930 --> 01:25:47.090
But you believe me,

01:25:49.430 --> 01:25:56.230
when the time comes,
l'm gonna be focused
and ready for battle.

01:26:00.570 --> 01:26:02.440
Good night, Mr. Frost.

01:26:04.450 --> 01:26:05.780
Good night,

01:26:07.660 --> 01:26:09.320
Mr. President.

01:26:26.430 --> 01:26:29.470
So with or without cheese?
l brought burgers.

01:26:30.430 --> 01:26:31.510
David?

01:26:31.600 --> 01:26:32.760
l've got to work.

01:26:35.890 --> 01:26:38.690
NIXON ON TAPE: Well,
who was the asshole that did?

01:26:39.650 --> 01:26:41.440
Jesus, is that Liddy?

01:26:42.440 --> 01:26:43.860
He must be a little nuts.

01:26:43.940 --> 01:26:45.190
HALDEMAN: Yeah, he is.

01:26:45.280 --> 01:26:47.860
N IXON: I mean, he just isn't
well screwed on, is he?

01:26:47.950 --> 01:26:49.870
lsn't that the problem?

01:26:49.950 --> 01:26:52.450
Yeah, screw the Cabinet
and the rest of those.

01:26:52.540 --> 01:26:56.040
But no more sucking around.
From now on, they come to me.

01:26:56.120 --> 01:26:58.170
There is one thing
that I want done,

01:26:58.250 --> 01:27:00.250
and l don't want
any argument about it.

01:27:01.130 --> 01:27:04.210
l want you to direct
the most trusted
person you have

01:27:04.300 --> 01:27:05.960
in the Immigration Service

01:27:06.050 --> 01:27:10.140
that they are to look over
all the activities
at the Los Angeles Times.

01:27:10.220 --> 01:27:13.890
All, underlined.
And they are to send
their teams in to see

01:27:13.970 --> 01:27:16.890
whether they are violating
the wetback thing.

01:27:16.980 --> 01:27:18.640
ls that clear?
MITCHELL: Yes, sir.

01:27:19.480 --> 01:27:21.020
(TAPE REWlN DlNG)

01:27:21.900 --> 01:27:24.610
N IXON: You open that scab,
there's a hell of
a lot of things that

01:27:24.690 --> 01:27:27.070
we just feel that
it would be very detrimental

01:27:27.150 --> 01:27:29.400
to have this thing
go any further.

01:27:29.490 --> 01:27:32.030
(TELEPHON E RlNGlNG)

01:27:36.410 --> 01:27:37.410
Hello?

01:27:37.500 --> 01:27:39.000
Jim, it's David.

01:27:40.120 --> 01:27:42.250
Hey. What time is it?

01:27:42.340 --> 01:27:45.340
How much longer
are you gonna be
in D.C. for?

01:27:45.420 --> 01:27:46.800
Tuesday. Till Tuesday.

01:27:46.880 --> 01:27:48.970
Great. Well,
you remember
you mentioned

01:27:49.050 --> 01:27:51.510
going to the Federal
Courthouse library?

01:27:51.680 --> 01:27:53.970
(BABY CRYlNG)
Honey, can you
check on him, please?

01:27:54.060 --> 01:27:55.850
Yes, for the Colson stuff?

01:27:55.930 --> 01:27:59.140
Well, l've been doing
a little light reading
this end,

01:28:00.270 --> 01:28:02.940
and you remember
that hunch you had
about the meeting

01:28:03.020 --> 01:28:04.560
between Nixon and Colson?

01:28:04.650 --> 01:28:06.360
Uh-huh. What are you thinking?

01:28:23.540 --> 01:28:25.210
(KNOCKlNG ON DOOR)

01:28:27.710 --> 01:28:29.380
(KNOCKlNG CONTlN U ES)

01:28:35.350 --> 01:28:36.810
Hey.
Hey.

01:28:36.890 --> 01:28:37.970
Good morning.

01:28:38.060 --> 01:28:39.060
And?

01:28:46.900 --> 01:28:50.070
(TRI UMPHANT INSTRUMENTAL
MUSIC PLAYING)

01:28:50.900 --> 01:28:52.950
Excuse me, sir.

01:29:09.420 --> 01:29:11.720
lt's 8:30.
Bob, have you
seen David?

01:29:11.840 --> 01:29:14.130
No. No Frost, no Reston.

01:29:14.590 --> 01:29:16.300
(ELEVATOR BELL DlNGS)

01:29:24.310 --> 01:29:27.060
Morning.
Good morning.
Come on, let's go.

01:29:31.070 --> 01:29:32.780
What's that about?

01:29:40.790 --> 01:29:42.450
BlRT: First time he's late.

01:29:55.090 --> 01:29:56.930
REPORTER: Mr. President!

01:29:57.010 --> 01:29:58.550
(CROWD CLAMORlNG)

01:30:13.690 --> 01:30:14.900
Morning.

01:30:30.090 --> 01:30:31.550
(DOOR OPENS)

01:30:32.670 --> 01:30:34.510
(lN DlSTlNCT)

01:30:53.480 --> 01:30:54.820
Mr. President.

01:30:55.360 --> 01:30:56.700
Mr. Frost.

01:31:11.540 --> 01:31:13.800
DAVlS: Thirty seconds
to tape roll !

01:31:16.380 --> 01:31:20.760
Thirty seconds.
Settling. Settle.

01:31:30.400 --> 01:31:36.440
Well, if today's session is
anything like our phone call,
it should be explosive.

01:31:37.650 --> 01:31:39.610
What phone call?

01:31:40.110 --> 01:31:42.120
The phone call
to my hotel room.

01:31:45.290 --> 01:31:50.710
DAVlS: David,
starting on camera three
in four, three, two and. . .

01:31:57.340 --> 01:32:00.590
Now, looking back
on your final year
in office,

01:32:00.840 --> 01:32:03.050
do you feel you ever
obstructed justice

01:32:03.140 --> 01:32:06.470
or were part of
a conspiracy to cover up
or obstruct justice?

01:32:06.560 --> 01:32:07.640
No.

01:32:08.600 --> 01:32:13.440
And l'm interested
that you used the term
"obstruction of justice."

01:32:13.520 --> 01:32:15.610
Now, you perhaps have not
read the statute

01:32:15.780 --> 01:32:17.860
with regard to
the obstruction
of justice.

01:32:17.940 --> 01:32:20.490
As it happens, l have.

01:32:20.570 --> 01:32:27.200
You have, you say?
Well, then, you'll know it
doesn't just require an act.

01:32:27.290 --> 01:32:30.870
lt requires a specific
corrupt motive.

01:32:30.960 --> 01:32:34.250
And in this case,
l didn't have
a corrupt motive.

01:32:34.340 --> 01:32:37.880
What l was doing
was in the interests
of political containment.

01:32:37.960 --> 01:32:40.130
Be that as it may,
the direct consequences

01:32:40.220 --> 01:32:41.800
of your actions
would have been

01:32:41.880 --> 01:32:43.550
that two of
the convicted burglars

01:32:43.640 --> 01:32:45.510
would have escaped
criminal prosecution.

01:32:45.600 --> 01:32:48.890
Now, how can that
not be a cover-up or
obstruction of justice?

01:32:48.980 --> 01:32:50.730
Well, l think
the record shows,
Mr. Frost,

01:32:50.810 --> 01:32:54.020
that far from
obstructing justice,

01:32:54.110 --> 01:32:56.610
l was actively
facilitating it.

01:32:56.690 --> 01:33:01.070
When Pat Gray of the FBl
telephoned me,
this was July 6,

01:33:01.150 --> 01:33:04.570
l said,
"Pat, you go right ahead
with your investigation."

01:33:04.660 --> 01:33:06.910
That's hardly
what you'd call
obstructing justice.

01:33:06.990 --> 01:33:10.080
Well, that may be,
but for two weeks
prior to July 6,

01:33:10.160 --> 01:33:11.660
we now know that
you were desperately

01:33:11.750 --> 01:33:13.160
trying to contain or block
the investigation.

01:33:13.250 --> 01:33:14.920
No, no. Hang on
a minute there.
l wasn't. . .

01:33:15.000 --> 01:33:16.790
No, no.
Obstruction of justice
is obstruction of justice,

01:33:16.880 --> 01:33:18.750
whether it's for
a minute or five minutes,

01:33:18.840 --> 01:33:20.880
and it's no defense
to say that your plan failed.

01:33:20.970 --> 01:33:23.720
l mean, if l try to
rob a bank and fail,
that's no defense.

01:33:23.800 --> 01:33:25.260
l still tried
to rob the bank.

01:33:25.340 --> 01:33:27.970
Will you just wait
one minute there,
Mr. Frost?

01:33:28.060 --> 01:33:30.470
There is no evidence
of any kind that l was. . .

01:33:30.560 --> 01:33:31.980
Well, the reason
there is no evidence

01:33:32.060 --> 01:33:33.730
is because
18 and a half minutes

01:33:33.810 --> 01:33:37.020
of the conversation
with Bob Haldeman
from this June period

01:33:37.110 --> 01:33:38.770
have mysteriously
been erased.

01:33:38.860 --> 01:33:41.740
That was
an unfortunate
oversight.

01:33:41.820 --> 01:33:43.280
And Bob Haldeman
is a rigorous

01:33:43.360 --> 01:33:45.860
and a conscientious
note taker.

01:33:45.950 --> 01:33:47.780
His notes are there
for all to see.

01:33:47.870 --> 01:33:50.620
Well, we found
something rather better
than his notes,

01:33:50.700 --> 01:33:54.250
a conversation
with Charles Colson,

01:33:55.210 --> 01:33:58.130
which l don't think
has ever been published.

01:33:59.880 --> 01:34:01.670
Okay, here we go.

01:34:01.760 --> 01:34:03.670
lt hasn't been
published, you say?

01:34:03.760 --> 01:34:06.890
No, but one
of my researchers
found it in Washington

01:34:07.510 --> 01:34:10.600
where it's available
to anyone who consults
the records.

01:34:10.680 --> 01:34:15.310
Well, l just wondered,
you know, if we'd seen it.

01:34:15.390 --> 01:34:16.850
More than seen it,
Mr. President.

01:34:16.940 --> 01:34:18.610
You spoke the actual words.

01:34:18.690 --> 01:34:22.940
Now, you've always claimed
you first learned of
the break-in on June 23.

01:34:23.030 --> 01:34:24.070
Yeah.

01:34:24.150 --> 01:34:27.780
But this transcript of a tape
made three days earlier

01:34:27.870 --> 01:34:30.330
clearly shows that
to be a falsehood.

01:34:30.910 --> 01:34:36.410
Now, in it you say
to Colson, "This whole
investigation rests

01:34:37.500 --> 01:34:43.000
"unless one of the seven
begins to talk.

01:34:45.800 --> 01:34:47.510
"That's the problem."

01:34:47.590 --> 01:34:51.100
Well, what do we
mean when we say

01:34:51.180 --> 01:34:53.310
"one of the seven
beginning to talk"?

01:34:53.390 --> 01:34:56.690
Then moving on to
a conversation you had
with John Dean

01:34:56.770 --> 01:34:58.230
on March 21,
the following year.

01:34:58.310 --> 01:35:01.270
ln one transcript alone,
there in black and white,

01:35:01.360 --> 01:35:03.020
l picked out,
and these are your words,

01:35:03.110 --> 01:35:06.820
one,
"You could get $1 million,
and you could get it in cash.

01:35:06.900 --> 01:35:08.320
"l know where it
could be gotten."

01:35:08.410 --> 01:35:11.740
Two, "Your major guy
to keep under control
is Hunt."

01:35:12.330 --> 01:35:15.200
Three,
"Don't we have to handle
the Hunt situation?"

01:35:15.290 --> 01:35:17.040
Four, "Get the million bucks.

01:35:17.120 --> 01:35:19.580
"lt would seem to me
that would be worthwhile."

01:35:19.670 --> 01:35:22.460
Five, "Don't you agree
that you'd better get
the Hunt thing going?"

01:35:22.550 --> 01:35:24.380
Six, "First you've got
the Hunt problem.

01:35:24.460 --> 01:35:27.090
"That ought to be handled."
Seven, "The money
can be provided.

01:35:27.170 --> 01:35:29.630
"Ehrlichman could provide
the way to deliver it."

01:35:29.720 --> 01:35:31.390
Eight,
"We've no choice with Hunt

01:35:31.470 --> 01:35:34.350
"but the $120,000 or
whatever it is, right?"

01:35:34.430 --> 01:35:37.810
Nine, "Christ,
turn over any cash
we've got."

01:35:37.890 --> 01:35:39.350
And l could go on.
Now, it seems to me

01:35:39.440 --> 01:35:41.060
that someone
running a cover-up

01:35:41.150 --> 01:35:43.190
couldn't have expressed it
more clearly than that,
could they?

01:35:43.270 --> 01:35:44.820
Look, let me
just stop you now
right there,

01:35:44.900 --> 01:35:47.030
because you're doing
something here

01:35:47.110 --> 01:35:49.400
which l am not doing,
and l will not do

01:35:49.490 --> 01:35:51.740
throughout these
entire broadcasts.

01:35:51.820 --> 01:35:53.910
You're quoting me
out of context,

01:35:53.990 --> 01:35:56.200
out of order.
And l might add,

01:35:56.290 --> 01:35:58.580
l have participated
in all these interviews

01:35:58.660 --> 01:36:00.460
without a single note
in front of me.

01:36:00.540 --> 01:36:02.040
Well, it is your life,
Mr. President.

01:36:02.130 --> 01:36:03.250
Now, you've always maintained

01:36:03.340 --> 01:36:06.210
that you knew nothing
about any of this
until March 21.

01:36:06.300 --> 01:36:09.840
But in February,
your personal lawyer
came to Washington

01:36:09.930 --> 01:36:12.970
to start the raising
of $219,000

01:36:13.050 --> 01:36:15.050
of hush money to be
paid to the burglars.

01:36:15.140 --> 01:36:18.060
Now, do you seriously
expect us to believe

01:36:18.140 --> 01:36:19.730
that you had
no knowledge of that?

01:36:19.810 --> 01:36:23.100
None. l believed
the money was for
humanitarian purposes.

01:36:23.190 --> 01:36:25.770
To help
disadvantaged people
with their defenses.

01:36:25.860 --> 01:36:29.610
Well, it was being delivered
on the tops of phone booths
with aliases,

01:36:29.700 --> 01:36:31.950
and at airports
by people with gloves on.

01:36:32.030 --> 01:36:34.120
That's not normally
the way lawyers' fees
are delivered, is it?

01:36:34.200 --> 01:36:36.740
Look,
l have made statements
to this effect before.

01:36:36.830 --> 01:36:39.000
All that was Haldeman
and Ehrlichman's business.

01:36:39.080 --> 01:36:41.210
l knew nothing.
Okay, fine. Fine!

01:36:41.290 --> 01:36:42.580
You made a conclusion there.

01:36:42.670 --> 01:36:44.250
l stated my view,
now let's move on.

01:36:44.340 --> 01:36:45.420
Let's get on to
the rest of it.

01:36:45.500 --> 01:36:46.500
No, hold on.
No, hold on.

01:36:46.590 --> 01:36:47.590
No, l don't
want to talk. . .

01:36:47.670 --> 01:36:49.380
lf Haldeman and Ehrlichman
were the ones
really responsible,

01:36:49.470 --> 01:36:52.260
when you subsequently
found out about it,

01:36:52.340 --> 01:36:54.390
why didn't you
call the police
and have them arrested?

01:36:54.470 --> 01:36:56.470
lsn't that just
a cover-up of another kind?

01:36:56.560 --> 01:36:58.220
Yeah, maybe l should
have done that.
Maybe l should have.

01:36:58.310 --> 01:37:00.060
Just called the feds
into my office

01:37:00.140 --> 01:37:02.270
and said, "Hey,
there's the two men.

01:37:02.350 --> 01:37:03.810
"Haul them
down to the dock,

01:37:03.900 --> 01:37:05.980
"fingerprint them
and then throw them
in the can."

01:37:06.070 --> 01:37:07.150
l'm not made that way.

01:37:07.230 --> 01:37:10.240
These men,
Haldeman, Ehrlichman,
l knew their families.

01:37:10.320 --> 01:37:12.150
l knew them since
they were just kids.

01:37:12.240 --> 01:37:13.530
Yeah, but you know,
politically,

01:37:13.610 --> 01:37:16.490
the pressure on me
to let them go,
that became overwhelming !

01:37:16.580 --> 01:37:19.410
So l did it.
l cut off one arm,

01:37:19.500 --> 01:37:22.210
then l cut off the other,
and l'm not a good butcher!

01:37:22.290 --> 01:37:25.170
And l have always maintained
what they were doing,

01:37:25.250 --> 01:37:27.500
what we were all doing,
was not criminal.

01:37:27.590 --> 01:37:29.130
Look,
when you're in office,

01:37:29.210 --> 01:37:32.470
you gotta do
a lot of things sometimes
that are not always,

01:37:32.550 --> 01:37:36.090
in the strictest sense
of the law, legal,
but you do them

01:37:36.180 --> 01:37:38.390
because they're in
the greater interests
of the nation !

01:37:38.470 --> 01:37:40.180
Right. Wait, just so
l understand correctly,

01:37:40.270 --> 01:37:42.980
are you really saying
that in certain situations,

01:37:43.060 --> 01:37:46.020
the President can decide
whether it's in the best
interests of the nation

01:37:46.110 --> 01:37:48.190
and then do something illegal?

01:37:48.270 --> 01:37:53.150
l'm saying that when
the President does it,
that means it's not illegal.

01:37:55.530 --> 01:37:56.990
l'm sorry?

01:37:57.070 --> 01:37:58.950
That's what l believe.

01:37:59.910 --> 01:38:01.330
Oh, my God.

01:38:06.290 --> 01:38:11.170
But l realize
no one else
shares that view.

01:38:13.260 --> 01:38:18.260
So, in that case,
will you accept, then,

01:38:18.470 --> 01:38:20.970
to clear the air
once and for all,

01:38:21.470 --> 01:38:23.640
that you were part
of a cover-up

01:38:23.730 --> 01:38:27.150
and that you did
break the law?

01:38:36.530 --> 01:38:38.820
Oh, my God, we got him.
N lXON: l...

01:38:39.240 --> 01:38:40.450
Shit!

01:38:41.080 --> 01:38:42.080
(DOOR OPENS)

01:38:42.160 --> 01:38:43.580
Okay, let's take
a break there.

01:38:43.660 --> 01:38:45.080
What the fuck
is going on?

01:38:45.540 --> 01:38:46.750
Cut it. Cut it.

01:38:46.830 --> 01:38:47.830
Excuse me?
Shut it down.

01:38:47.960 --> 01:38:48.960
Shut it down now.

01:38:49.040 --> 01:38:51.880
DAVlS: That's not my call.
You're gonna have to
talk to the director.

01:38:52.000 --> 01:38:53.500
He's in that
truck out there.
BREN NAN : Get him in here.

01:38:53.590 --> 01:38:55.340
DAVlS: Listen, we have
an issue in here.

01:38:55.420 --> 01:38:57.180
Jack, what are you doing?
A break?

01:38:57.260 --> 01:38:58.340
Change the tapes.

01:38:58.430 --> 01:38:59.930
David, can l talk to you
for a minute, please?

01:39:00.010 --> 01:39:01.510
What the hell is
going on, Jack?

01:39:01.680 --> 01:39:03.140
He was about to blow
and you know it.

01:39:03.220 --> 01:39:05.310
Fellas, this is
a critical moment
in his life.

01:39:05.390 --> 01:39:06.430
You realize we could
sue you for this?

01:39:06.520 --> 01:39:08.940
You have
deliberately sabotaged
the interview, Jack.

01:39:09.020 --> 01:39:10.020
BREN NAN :
Look, we're all
in this together.

01:39:10.110 --> 01:39:11.110
l'm sure we can
find a solution.

01:39:11.190 --> 01:39:14.110
ZELN lCK: A solution?
What the hell are you talking
about? lt's an interview!

01:39:14.190 --> 01:39:15.490
KHACH lGlAN :
Bob, may l remind you. . .

01:39:15.570 --> 01:39:17.200
BlRT: This is
a breach of contract.
We could sue.

01:39:17.280 --> 01:39:18.910
(ALL ARGU lNG)

01:39:20.570 --> 01:39:22.700
For heaven's sake, Jim.
Why don't you
give him a week off?

01:39:22.790 --> 01:39:23.790
Give him a year off!

01:39:23.870 --> 01:39:25.120
Give him a fucking massage!

01:39:25.200 --> 01:39:27.330
GAN NON : Watch
your language,
for crying out loud.

01:39:27.410 --> 01:39:29.330
(ALL ARGU lNG)

01:39:32.250 --> 01:39:33.420
(KNOCKlNG ON DOOR)

01:39:42.550 --> 01:39:46.560
What'd you do?
Throw in the towel,
Jack?

01:39:47.940 --> 01:39:49.940
Did you take pity on me?

01:39:52.400 --> 01:39:54.150
Sir, l just felt that

01:39:55.650 --> 01:39:59.990
if you were going
to make some kind of
emotional disclosure,

01:40:00.070 --> 01:40:03.280
that we should
just take a moment

01:40:03.370 --> 01:40:06.120
to think it through,
sketch it out.

01:40:07.080 --> 01:40:09.960
l just want to
impress upon you

01:40:10.040 --> 01:40:12.670
how crucially important
this moment is

01:40:13.500 --> 01:40:17.760
and how many potentially
devastating consequences

01:40:17.840 --> 01:40:20.170
unplanned emotional
disclosures could have.

01:40:20.260 --> 01:40:21.510
l know.

01:40:22.640 --> 01:40:26.260
But to go on and carry on
denying it all. . .

01:40:47.830 --> 01:40:49.830
l appreciate the gesture.

01:40:55.710 --> 01:40:57.750
We ought to call it a snafu.

01:41:01.050 --> 01:41:02.630
(WH lSPERlNG)

01:41:07.640 --> 01:41:09.220
Jack, are we on?

01:41:12.140 --> 01:41:13.730
We're on.
Okay, he's had plenty
of time to cook up

01:41:13.810 --> 01:41:16.060
some sort of
slippery new bullshit,
so stay on your toes.

01:41:16.150 --> 01:41:19.730
Listen, it's gonna be fine.
Pick up where you left off.

01:41:58.820 --> 01:42:01.110
Thirty seconds, everyone.

01:42:12.750 --> 01:42:15.000
DAVlS: Ten seconds.

01:42:20.210 --> 01:42:25.930
David? Four, three,
two, and. . .

01:42:27.180 --> 01:42:28.800
Mr. President,
we were talking about

01:42:28.890 --> 01:42:31.560
the period
March 21 to April 30,

01:42:31.640 --> 01:42:35.810
and the mistakes
you made, and so on,
and l was wondering

01:42:38.110 --> 01:42:41.570
would you go
further than "mistakes"?

01:42:41.650 --> 01:42:45.400
The word that
seems not enough
for people to understand.

01:42:47.700 --> 01:42:50.620
Well, what word
would you express?

01:42:56.870 --> 01:42:58.540
(EXCLAlMS lN DlSBELlEF)

01:42:58.630 --> 01:43:00.210
My goodness.

01:43:05.050 --> 01:43:06.300
All right.

01:43:07.510 --> 01:43:10.430
Since you've asked me,
l think there
are three things

01:43:10.510 --> 01:43:13.600
that people would
like to hear you say.

01:43:13.680 --> 01:43:18.100
One, that there was
probably more than mistakes.

01:43:18.190 --> 01:43:21.110
There was wrongdoing.

01:43:21.190 --> 01:43:24.030
And, yes, it might
have been a crime, too.

01:43:25.320 --> 01:43:30.620
Secondly, that "l did
abuse the power
l had as President."

01:43:32.370 --> 01:43:35.240
And thirdly,
"l put the American people

01:43:35.330 --> 01:43:38.160
"through two years
of needless agony,

01:43:39.120 --> 01:43:42.750
"and l apologize for that."
And l know
how difficult it is

01:43:43.170 --> 01:43:46.460
for anyone, especially you,

01:43:47.840 --> 01:43:51.720
but l think the people
need to hear it.

01:43:51.800 --> 01:43:54.640
And l think that
unless you say it,

01:43:55.810 --> 01:43:59.270
you're going to be haunted
for the rest of your life.

01:44:03.070 --> 01:44:09.070
Well, it's true.
l made mistakes,
horrendous ones,

01:44:10.820 --> 01:44:14.120
ones that were not
worthy of a president,

01:44:16.120 --> 01:44:19.000
ones that did not
meet the standards
of excellence

01:44:19.080 --> 01:44:22.880
that l always dreamed of
as a young boy.

01:44:22.960 --> 01:44:28.630
But, if you remember,
it was a difficult time.

01:44:29.680 --> 01:44:33.680
l was caught up
in a five-front war

01:44:34.180 --> 01:44:37.850
against a partisan media,
a partisan House of Congress,

01:44:37.930 --> 01:44:40.640
a partisan Ervin Committee.

01:44:42.150 --> 01:44:45.900
But, yes, l will admit
there were times

01:44:45.980 --> 01:44:49.110
l did not fully meet
that responsibility

01:44:49.190 --> 01:44:53.990
and l was involved
in a cover-up,
as you call it.

01:44:54.660 --> 01:44:58.660
And for all those mistakes
l have a very deep regret.

01:45:02.420 --> 01:45:06.170
No one can know
what it's like to resign
the presidency.

01:45:08.170 --> 01:45:09.260
Now,

01:45:11.050 --> 01:45:15.760
if you want me to get down
on the floor and grovel. . .

01:45:16.890 --> 01:45:19.390
No! Never!

01:45:21.060 --> 01:45:23.440
l still insist they were
mistakes of the heart.

01:45:23.520 --> 01:45:25.060
They were not
mistakes of the head.

01:45:25.150 --> 01:45:28.860
But they were my mistakes.
l don't blame anybody.

01:45:29.990 --> 01:45:32.070
l brought myself down.

01:45:34.160 --> 01:45:38.830
l gave them a sword,
and they stuck it in,

01:45:38.910 --> 01:45:42.540
and they twisted it
with relish.

01:45:43.540 --> 01:45:47.790
And l guess if l'd
been in their place,
l'd have done the same thing.

01:45:48.090 --> 01:45:50.500
And the American people?

01:46:09.480 --> 01:46:11.230
l let them down.

01:46:13.860 --> 01:46:16.110
l let down my friends.

01:46:18.950 --> 01:46:23.660
l let down the country.

01:46:27.540 --> 01:46:29.210
And worst of all,

01:46:32.710 --> 01:46:35.510
l let down
our system of government.

01:46:37.140 --> 01:46:39.550
And the dreams of
all those young people

01:46:39.640 --> 01:46:41.560
that ought to get
into government,

01:46:41.640 --> 01:46:45.890
but now they think,
"lt's all too corrupt,"
and the rest.

01:46:47.310 --> 01:46:48.400
Yeah.

01:46:51.650 --> 01:46:53.150
(SlGHS)

01:46:54.400 --> 01:46:56.990
l let the American
people down,

01:47:01.370 --> 01:47:04.540
and l'm gonna have to
carry that burden with me

01:47:06.160 --> 01:47:08.170
for the rest of my life.

01:47:19.890 --> 01:47:22.300
My political life is over.

01:47:50.210 --> 01:47:54.420
You know, the first
and greatest sin
or deception of television

01:47:54.500 --> 01:47:57.970
is that it simplifies,
it diminishes,

01:47:58.260 --> 01:48:02.720
great, complex ideas,
tranches of time.

01:48:03.560 --> 01:48:07.730
Whole careers become reduced
to a single snapshot.

01:48:08.730 --> 01:48:10.900
At first, l couldn't
understand why

01:48:10.980 --> 01:48:13.310
Bob Zelnick was
quite as euphoric

01:48:13.400 --> 01:48:15.610
as he was after
the interviews,

01:48:18.450 --> 01:48:22.200
or why John Birt felt
moved to strip naked

01:48:22.280 --> 01:48:25.160
and rush into
the ocean to celebrate.

01:48:25.240 --> 01:48:29.910
But that was before
l really understood

01:48:30.000 --> 01:48:32.790
the reductive power
of the close-up.

01:48:32.880 --> 01:48:36.710
Because David had
succeeded on that final day

01:48:36.800 --> 01:48:38.590
in getting,
for a fleeting moment,

01:48:38.670 --> 01:48:40.170
what no investigative
journalist,

01:48:40.260 --> 01:48:43.970
no state prosecutor,
no judiciary committee

01:48:44.050 --> 01:48:47.220
or political enemy
had managed to get.

01:48:47.430 --> 01:48:49.810
Richard Nixon's face,

01:48:49.890 --> 01:48:55.560
swollen and ravaged
by loneliness,
self-loathing and defeat.

01:48:56.980 --> 01:49:00.690
The rest of the project
and its failings would
not only be forgotten,

01:49:00.780 --> 01:49:03.030
they would totally
cease to exist.

01:49:04.820 --> 01:49:06.280
(CAMERAS CLlCKlNG)

01:49:06.660 --> 01:49:08.370
(REPORTERS CLAMORlNG)

01:49:10.750 --> 01:49:13.290
REPORTER: Who came out
on top, Mr. President?

01:49:33.060 --> 01:49:35.400
ls this what you
call a dachshund?

01:49:35.480 --> 01:49:36.650
Mmm-hmm.

01:49:45.120 --> 01:49:46.450
Very sweet.

01:49:57.540 --> 01:49:58.960
(ENGlN E STARTlNG)

01:50:17.440 --> 01:50:20.440
The Nixon/Frost interviews
were wildly successful.

01:50:20.530 --> 01:50:23.110
l think they attracted
the largest audience
for a news program

01:50:23.190 --> 01:50:24.860
in the history of
American television.

01:50:24.950 --> 01:50:28.070
David was on
the cover of Time magazine
and Newsweek magazine.

01:50:28.160 --> 01:50:29.410
And even the political
press corps,

01:50:29.490 --> 01:50:30.660
the hard-bitten
political press corps,

01:50:30.740 --> 01:50:33.700
called David up with
messages of contrition
and congratulation.

01:50:33.790 --> 01:50:36.000
David, l want to
say congratulations.

01:50:36.080 --> 01:50:37.920
The interviews?

01:50:38.000 --> 01:50:41.420
No, l didn't watch them.
l couldn't.

01:50:42.210 --> 01:50:43.710
(DISCO MUSIC PLAYING)

01:50:43.800 --> 01:50:44.800
Hey.

01:50:46.680 --> 01:50:47.840
Hello.

01:50:55.560 --> 01:50:58.810
l believe David saw
the former President
just one more time.

01:50:58.900 --> 01:51:00.690
Before he left California
for London again,

01:51:00.770 --> 01:51:03.400
he drove down
to San Clemente
to say goodbye.

01:51:15.580 --> 01:51:18.790
Hey, Mr. Frost.
lt's nice to see you.

01:51:19.750 --> 01:51:21.290
Miss Cushing.
Hello.

01:51:22.460 --> 01:51:24.590
Please excuse
my golf outfit.

01:51:24.670 --> 01:51:27.630
lt's the official
uniform of the retired.

01:51:29.090 --> 01:51:30.550
Are you on your way home?

01:51:30.640 --> 01:51:31.850
Yes.

01:51:31.930 --> 01:51:37.020
lnto a bright new dawn
of fresh enterprises
and challenges, eh?

01:51:37.100 --> 01:51:38.310
Well, let's hope so.

01:51:38.400 --> 01:51:39.560
Good for you.

01:51:39.650 --> 01:51:42.560
l didn't catch
the interviews
as they went out,

01:51:42.650 --> 01:51:46.280
but they tell me
that they were
a great success.

01:51:46.360 --> 01:51:50.070
l gather the journalists
that were so positive

01:51:50.160 --> 01:51:53.160
about you weren't
so kind to me.

01:51:53.240 --> 01:51:56.250
Yes, l was sorry to see that.

01:51:56.910 --> 01:51:59.160
There's no
condolences necessary.

01:51:59.250 --> 01:52:01.790
l've grown to
expect nothing else
from those sons of whores.

01:52:01.880 --> 01:52:03.590
Yeah.

01:52:03.670 --> 01:52:06.840
Jeez, please forgive me,
Miss Cushing.

01:52:07.260 --> 01:52:10.380
You know,
l would've said
"sons of bitches,"

01:52:10.470 --> 01:52:13.100
but Manolo here
is a lover of dogs,

01:52:13.180 --> 01:52:15.470
and he hates me
to defame animals.

01:52:15.970 --> 01:52:17.560
Can l get something
for somebody?

01:52:17.640 --> 01:52:20.060
Yes. Would you like
some tea or champagne?

01:52:20.150 --> 01:52:23.400
Hey, you know,
we got that caviar
the Shah of lran sent me.

01:52:23.480 --> 01:52:24.520
No, thank you.
You sure?

01:52:24.610 --> 01:52:25.900
Come on. lt'll be
no trouble at all.

01:52:25.980 --> 01:52:27.190
No, really, we must be. . .

01:52:27.280 --> 01:52:30.990
Okay, fine, fine.
Thanks for coming by.

01:52:34.030 --> 01:52:36.290
You were a worthy opponent.

01:52:38.290 --> 01:52:39.410
Goodbye, Mr. President.

01:52:39.500 --> 01:52:40.790
Bye-bye.

01:52:40.870 --> 01:52:42.250
Goodbye, Mr. President.

01:52:42.330 --> 01:52:43.380
Goodbye.

01:52:45.130 --> 01:52:47.760
Oh, God !
l almost forgot. l. . .

01:52:48.760 --> 01:52:54.680
l brought you a present,
those shoes you admired.

01:52:54.970 --> 01:52:56.720
l brought you a pair.

01:52:57.890 --> 01:53:00.890
Well, jeez. Thank you.

01:53:05.610 --> 01:53:10.780
l'm touched. Safe trip, now.

01:53:15.160 --> 01:53:20.870
Oh ! Say, David, you think
l could speak to you,
privately, just for a minute?

01:53:32.220 --> 01:53:34.800
Do you know those
parties of yours?

01:53:34.890 --> 01:53:37.350
The ones that l read about
in all the papers?

01:53:37.430 --> 01:53:40.180
Do you actually enjoy those?

01:53:41.060 --> 01:53:42.430
Of course.

01:53:43.980 --> 01:53:47.900
You got no idea how
fortunate that makes you.

01:53:49.070 --> 01:53:53.320
You know?
Liking people,
and being liked.

01:53:53.400 --> 01:53:58.080
Having that facility,
that lightness, that charm.

01:53:59.580 --> 01:54:02.000
l don't have it.
l never did.

01:54:02.790 --> 01:54:05.620
lt kind of makes you wonder
why l chose a life

01:54:05.710 --> 01:54:08.790
that hinged on being liked.

01:54:09.090 --> 01:54:12.510
l'm better suited
to a life of thought,

01:54:12.590 --> 01:54:14.800
debate,
intellectual discipline.

01:54:15.840 --> 01:54:17.050
Maybe we got it wrong.

01:54:17.140 --> 01:54:19.010
Maybe you should have
been a politician

01:54:19.100 --> 01:54:21.430
and l the rigorous
interviewer.

01:54:22.060 --> 01:54:23.310
Maybe.

01:54:24.770 --> 01:54:25.890
David.

01:54:28.230 --> 01:54:31.690
Did l really
call you that night?

01:54:34.030 --> 01:54:35.240
Yes.

01:54:36.110 --> 01:54:39.950
Did we discuss
anything important?

01:54:44.250 --> 01:54:45.710
Cheeseburgers.

01:54:48.130 --> 01:54:49.670
Cheeseburgers?

01:54:55.380 --> 01:54:56.880
Goodbye, sir.

01:55:07.060 --> 01:55:09.230
RESTON: Well, New York,
London and Sydney

01:55:09.310 --> 01:55:11.730
welcomed David
back with open arms,

01:55:11.820 --> 01:55:13.530
as did his friends
and investors,

01:55:13.610 --> 01:55:16.070
who've made a fortune
from these interviews.

01:55:16.150 --> 01:55:17.740
He got back all of his shows.

01:55:17.820 --> 01:55:20.070
He even got back
his table at Sardi's.

01:55:20.830 --> 01:55:22.200
As for Richard Nixon,

01:55:22.290 --> 01:55:23.490
well, he certainly
never achieved

01:55:23.580 --> 01:55:26.250
the rehabilitation
he so desperately craved.

01:55:26.330 --> 01:55:28.500
His most lasting legacy

01:55:28.580 --> 01:55:31.380
is that today
any political wrongdoing

01:55:31.500 --> 01:55:33.300
is immediately given
the suffix "gate."

01:55:33.324 --> 01:55:53.324
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